Criteria for “good” justifications

Many institutions in a democratic society wield important power by virtue of the decisions they make. These decisions may concern individuals or have a more general impact on society. It goes without saying today that this exercise of power must be accounted for. A supreme court’s reasoning is given in its judgements. A central bank’s reasoning is given in the decision-making body’s minutes. In this paper, we develop criteria for what constitute good written justifications for a decision, not what makes a good decision per se. We look at the two institutions we know best: supreme courts and central banks. Of course, these are not the only institutions that exercise power on behalf of the state, and we also ask whether our criteria could be applied more generally. We assess a selection of supreme court judgements and monetary policy decisions in various countries qualitatively against our criteria, and find that practice largely conforms to the criteria. There are some common features between supreme courts and central banks. In recent years there has been a development in the way the judgments are written in the UK Supreme Court. Earlier, each judge wrote his votum. Now they are writing a common text. With individual writing, there were many different formulations of the normative text. It is easier for the public to relate to one legislative text. The UK Supreme Court, under the presidency of Lord Neuberger, has therefore gradually moved towards writing a joint text. John Roberts, the US Chief Justice, thought that judges should be worried when they are writing separately about the effect on the court as an institution. What about the minutes of the central banks? Professor Alan Blinder at Princeton argues that a central bank that speaks with a cacophony of voices has no voice at all. Professor Otmar Issing, the former Chief Economist and Member of the Board of the ECB, believes that there is a danger that individual minutes provide an incentive for individual members to put themselves ahead of the institution We also test empirically whether the institutions’ decisions and the justifications for these decisions are communicated in clear language. Our analysis is inspired by Bank of England chief economist Andrew Haldane’s speech “A little more conversation, a little less action”, and by the report “Bankspeak: The Language of World Bank Reports 1946-2012” by Franco Moretti and Dominique Pestre at Stanford Literary Lab. We analyse more than 6,000 central bank and supreme court decisions from the past decade and find considerable differences in length and readability across countries and institutions. The grand chamber decisions of the European Court of Human Rights are by far the longest, while the European Court of Justice employs the most complex language. The Danish central bank keeps things briefest and uses the clearest language, but also has the simplest regime to explain. The Swedish central bank’s minutes stand out as both long and complex, while the Norwegian central bank is unusually concise. Moretti and Pestre analysed the text of all World Bank reports and found quantitative indications that the language of the reports had moved in the wrong direction in terms of readability. We perform the same tests on central banks and supreme courts and find that these institutions’ language has not moved in the same negative direction. Former Bank of England governor Mervyn King argued that the design of an institution “must reflect history and experience”, and there is no doubt that each institution’s way of writing is influenced by its own history. This is what economists refer to as “path dependence”. We wonder, however, whether there is rather too much path dependence in many cases, and whether the institutions in question might benefit from looking at trends and learning from other institutions both at home and abroad. In our work on this paper, we have been particularly wary of phrases along the lines of “based on a general assessment”. Alarm bells sound whenever we see them, especially with any frequency, as they are liable to conceal rather than illuminate the true rationale.publishedVersio

Criteria for “good” justifications

Many institutions in a democratic society wield important power by virtue of the decisions they make. These decisions may concern individuals or have a more general impact on society. It goes without saying today that this exercise of power must be accounted for. A supreme court’s reasoning is given in its judgements. A central bank’s reasoning is given in the decision-making body’s minutes. In this paper, we develop criteria for what constitute good written justifications for a decision, not what makes a good decision per se. We look at the two institutions we know best: supreme courts and central banks. Of course, these are not the only institutions that exercise power on behalf of the state, and we also ask whether our criteria could be applied more generally. We assess a selection of supreme court judgements and monetary policy decisions in various countries qualitatively against our criteria, and find that practice largely conforms to the criteria. There are some common features between supreme courts and central banks. In recent years there has been a development in the way the judgments are written in the UK Supreme Court. Earlier, each judge wrote his votum. Now they are writing a common text. With individual writing, there were many different formulations of the normative text. It is easier for the public to relate to one legislative text. The UK Supreme Court, under the presidency of Lord Neuberger, has therefore gradually moved towards writing a joint text. John Roberts, the US Chief Justice, thought that judges should be worried when they are writing separately about the effect on the court as an institution. What about the minutes of the central banks? Professor Alan Blinder at Princeton argues that a central bank that speaks with a cacophony of voices has no voice at all. Professor Otmar Issing, the former Chief Economist and Member of the Board of the ECB, believes that there is a danger that individual minutes provide an incentive for individual members to put themselves ahead of the institution We also test empirically whether the institutions’ decisions and the justifications for these decisions are communicated in clear language. Our analysis is inspired by Bank of England chief economist Andrew Haldane’s speech “A little more conversation, a little less action”, and by the report “Bankspeak: The Language of World Bank Reports 1946-2012” by Franco Moretti and Dominique Pestre at Stanford Literary Lab. We analyse more than 6,000 central bank and supreme court decisions from the past decade and find considerable differences in length and readability across countries and institutions. The grand chamber decisions of the European Court of Human Rights are by far the longest, while the European Court of Justice employs the most complex language. The Danish central bank keeps things briefest and uses the clearest language, but also has the simplest regime to explain. The Swedish central bank’s minutes stand out as both long and complex, while the Norwegian central bank is unusually concise. Moretti and Pestre analysed the text of all World Bank reports and found quantitative indications that the language of the reports had moved in the wrong direction in terms of readability. We perform the same tests on central banks and supreme courts and find that these institutions’ language has not moved in the same negative direction. Former Bank of England governor Mervyn King argued that the design of an institution “must reflect history and experience”, and there is no doubt that each institution’s way of writing is influenced by its own history. This is what economists refer to as “path dependence”. We wonder, however, whether there is rather too much path dependence in many cases, and whether the institutions in question might benefit from looking at trends and learning from other institutions both at home and abroad. In our work on this paper, we have been particularly wary of phrases along the lines of “based on a general assessment”. Alarm bells sound whenever we see them, especially with any frequency, as they are liable to conceal rather than illuminate the true rationale

Kriterier for «gode» begrunnelser

I demokratiske samfunn utøver ulike institusjoner gjennom beslutninger viktig samfunnsmakt. Beslutningene kan rette seg mot enkeltindivider eller ha en mer generell samfunnsmessig virkning. Det er en selvfølge i dag at slik maktutøvelse må være begrunnet. Høyesteretts begrunnelse er gitt i dommer. Sentralbankens begrunnelse er gitt i det besluttende organs referat. Vi utvikler i dette notatet kriterier for hva som er en «god» begrunnelse, ikke om vedtaket er godt. Vi har sett på de to institusjonene som vi kjenner best, høyesteretter og sentralbanker. Det er selvsagt ikke bare sentralbanker og høyesteretter som på vegne av det offentlige utøver makt. Også andre samfunnsinstitusjoner gjør det. Vi reiser spørsmålet om de kriteriene vi har utviklet, kan anvendes mer generelt. Vi har kvalitativt vurdert et utvalg høyesterettsdommer og pengepolitiske beslutninger i noen land opp mot de kriteriene vi foreslår. I hovedsak er praksis i samsvar med kriteriene. Det er noen felles trekk mellom høyesterettene og sentralbankene. I de siste årene har det vært en utvikling i måten dommene har blitt skrevet på i UK Supreme Court. Tidligere skrev hver dommer sitt votum. Nå skriver de en felles tekst. Med individuell skrivning blir det mange forskjellige formulereringer av prejudikatet. Det er enklere for allmennheten å forholde seg til en normativ tekst. The UK Supreme Court under ledelse av Lord Neuberger har derfor gradvis beveget seg i retning av å skrive en felles tekst. John Roberts, høyesterettsjustitiarius i USA, mener at dommerne bør være bekymret når de skriver en individuell tekst om noe som har virkning for domstolen som en institusjon. Hva med sentralbankreferatene? Professor Alan Blinder ved Princeton University, mener at en sentralbank som snakker med en kakofoni av stemmer, ikke har noen stemme i det hele tatt. Professor Otmar Issing, tidligere sjeføkonom og medlem av styret i den Europeiske Sentralbank (ESB), mener ar det er en fare for at individuell skriving av referatene gir et incentiv for individuelle medlemmer å sette seg selv foran institusjonen. Vi har empirisk testet om beslutningene og begrunnelsen for dem er skrevet i et klart språk. Vår analyse er inspirert av talen “A Little More Conversation. A Little Less Action”, holdt av sjeføkonom i Bank of England, Andrew Haldane, og av notatet «Bankspeak: The Language of World Bank Reports, 1946-2012» av Franco Moretti og Dominique Pestre, Stanford Literary Lab. Vi har analysert mer enn 6 000 begrunnelser fra sentralbanker og høyesteretter over det siste tiåret. Det er betydelige forskjeller mellom land og institusjoner med hensyn til lengde og lesbarhet. Storkammeravgjørelsene i Den Europeiske Menneskerettighetsdomstol er en helt egen divisjon med hensyn til lengde, the European Court of Justice skriver mest komplisert. Danmarks Nationalbank skriver kortest og har det klareste språket, men de har også det enkleste regimet å forklare. Sveriges Riksbank skiller seg ut med å skrive langt og komplisert. Norges Banks begrunnelse avviker ved å være svært kort. Moretti og Pestre gjennomførte en leksikalsk analyse («big data») av alle Verdensbankens rapporter og fant kvantitative indikasjoner på at språket i rapportene hadde gått i gal retning med hensyn til lesbarhet. Vi har gjennomført de samme testene for sentralbankene og høyesterettene. Våre analyser viser at disse institusjonene ikke har hatt samme uheldige språklige utvikling som Verdensbankens rapporter. Tidligere sentralbanksjef Mervyn King argumenterte for at «an institution should have a design that reflects history and experience”. Det er ikke tvil om at skrivemåten til den enkelte institusjon er preget av institusjonens egen historie. Institusjonene er preget av det økonomer kaller «path dependency». Vi lurer imidlertid på om det for mange institusjoner er litt for mye «path dependency» og at de ville hatt nytte av i noe større grad å se hen på utviklingstrekk og å lære av andre institusjoner i eget og andre land. Gjennom arbeidet med dette notatet har vi blitt spesielt oppmerksomme på uttrykkene «helhetsvurdering» og «etter samlet vurdering». Varsellampene lyser når vi ser disse ordene, særlig hvis frekvensen av dem er høy. Uttrykkene tilslører ofte hva som er den egentlige begrunnelsen i stedet for å opplyse den.publishedVersio

Kriterier for «gode» begrunnelser

I demokratiske samfunn utøver ulike institusjoner gjennom beslutninger viktig samfunnsmakt. Beslutningene kan rette seg mot enkeltindivider eller ha en mer generell samfunnsmessig virkning. Det er en selvfølge i dag at slik maktutøvelse må være begrunnet. Høyesteretts begrunnelse er gitt i dommer. Sentralbankens begrunnelse er gitt i det besluttende organs referat. Vi utvikler i dette notatet kriterier for hva som er en «god» begrunnelse, ikke om vedtaket er godt. Vi har sett på de to institusjonene som vi kjenner best, høyesteretter og sentralbanker. Det er selvsagt ikke bare sentralbanker og høyesteretter som på vegne av det offentlige utøver makt. Også andre samfunnsinstitusjoner gjør det. Vi reiser spørsmålet om de kriteriene vi har utviklet, kan anvendes mer generelt. Vi har kvalitativt vurdert et utvalg høyesterettsdommer og pengepolitiske beslutninger i noen land opp mot de kriteriene vi foreslår. I hovedsak er praksis i samsvar med kriteriene. Det er noen felles trekk mellom høyesterettene og sentralbankene. I de siste årene har det vært en utvikling i måten dommene har blitt skrevet på i UK Supreme Court. Tidligere skrev hver dommer sitt votum. Nå skriver de en felles tekst. Med individuell skrivning blir det mange forskjellige formulereringer av prejudikatet. Det er enklere for allmennheten å forholde seg til en normativ tekst. The UK Supreme Court under ledelse av Lord Neuberger har derfor gradvis beveget seg i retning av å skrive en felles tekst. John Roberts, høyesterettsjustitiarius i USA, mener at dommerne bør være bekymret når de skriver en individuell tekst om noe som har virkning for domstolen som en institusjon. Hva med sentralbankreferatene? Professor Alan Blinder ved Princeton University, mener at en sentralbank som snakker med en kakofoni av stemmer, ikke har noen stemme i det hele tatt. Professor Otmar Issing, tidligere sjeføkonom og medlem av styret i den Europeiske Sentralbank (ESB), mener ar det er en fare for at individuell skriving av referatene gir et incentiv for individuelle medlemmer å sette seg selv foran institusjonen. Vi har empirisk testet om beslutningene og begrunnelsen for dem er skrevet i et klart språk. Vår analyse er inspirert av talen “A Little More Conversation. A Little Less Action”, holdt av sjeføkonom i Bank of England, Andrew Haldane, og av notatet «Bankspeak: The Language of World Bank Reports, 1946-2012» av Franco Moretti og Dominique Pestre, Stanford Literary Lab. Vi har analysert mer enn 6 000 begrunnelser fra sentralbanker og høyesteretter over det siste tiåret. Det er betydelige forskjeller mellom land og institusjoner med hensyn til lengde og lesbarhet. Storkammeravgjørelsene i Den Europeiske Menneskerettighetsdomstol er en helt egen divisjon med hensyn til lengde, the European Court of Justice skriver mest komplisert. Danmarks Nationalbank skriver kortest og har det klareste språket, men de har også det enkleste regimet å forklare. Sveriges Riksbank skiller seg ut med å skrive langt og komplisert. Norges Banks begrunnelse avviker ved å være svært kort. Moretti og Pestre gjennomførte en leksikalsk analyse («big data») av alle Verdensbankens rapporter og fant kvantitative indikasjoner på at språket i rapportene hadde gått i gal retning med hensyn til lesbarhet. Vi har gjennomført de samme testene for sentralbankene og høyesterettene. Våre analyser viser at disse institusjonene ikke har hatt samme uheldige språklige utvikling som Verdensbankens rapporter. Tidligere sentralbanksjef Mervyn King argumenterte for at «an institution should have a design that reflects history and experience”. Det er ikke tvil om at skrivemåten til den enkelte institusjon er preget av institusjonens egen historie. Institusjonene er preget av det økonomer kaller «path dependency». Vi lurer imidlertid på om det for mange institusjoner er litt for mye «path dependency» og at de ville hatt nytte av i noe større grad å se hen på utviklingstrekk og å lære av andre institusjoner i eget og andre land. Gjennom arbeidet med dette notatet har vi blitt spesielt oppmerksomme på uttrykkene «helhetsvurdering» og «etter samlet vurdering». Varsellampene lyser når vi ser disse ordene, særlig hvis frekvensen av dem er høy. Uttrykkene tilslører ofte hva som er den egentlige begrunnelsen i stedet for å opplyse den

Do Childhood Boarding School Experiences Predict Health, Well-Being and Disability Pension in Adults? A SAMINOR Study

Indigenous Sámi and Kven minority children in Norway were during the 20th century placed at boarding schools to hasten their adoption of the Norwegian majority language and culture. This is the first population-based study examining health, well-being and disability pension rates among these children. Data stem from two epidemiological studies conducted in 2003/04 (SAMINOR 1) and 2012 (SAMINOR 2) by the Centre for Sami Health Research. The SAMINOR 1 study included N=13,974 residents (50.1% women, Mage=52.9 years) and n=2,125 boarding participants (49.6% women, Mage=56.2 years). The SAMINOR 2 part included N=10,512 residents (55.5% women, Mage=47.6 years) and n=1246 boarding participants (48.7% women, Mage=54.1 years). Main outcome measures are mental and general health, well-being and disability pension linearly regressed upon the predictors. We observed minor differences between boarding and non-boarding participants that generally disfavored the former, of which many disappeared after covariate adjustment. Boarding school participants reported more discrimination, violence, unhealthier lifestyle behavior (smoking), less education and household income compared to non-boarding participants. The exceptionally long timeframe between boarding school and the current outcome measures (40-50 years) is a likely reason for the weak associations. The study supports the international literature on health inequalities and highlights the risk of ill health following boarding school placement of indigenous or minority children. On a positive note, participants reporting stronger ethnic belonging (strong Sámi identity) were well protected, and even functioned better in terms of lower disability rates than majority Norwegians

Childhood violence and adult chronic pain among indigenous Sami and non-Sami populations in Norway: a SAMINOR 2 questionnaire study

Background Internationally, studies have shown that childhood violence is associated with chronic pain in adulthood. However, to date, this relationship has not been examined in any indigenous population. Objective The main objectives of this study were to investigate the association between childhood violence and reported chronic pain, number of pain sites and the intensity of pain in adulthood in indigenous Sami and non-Sami adults, and to explore ethnic differences. Design The study is based on the SAMINOR 2 questionnaire study, a larger population-based, cross-sectional survey on health and living conditions in multiethnic areas with both Sami and non-Sami populations in Mid- and Northern Norway. Our study includes a total of 11,130 adult participants: 2,167 Sami respondents (19.5%) and 8,963 non-Sami respondents (80.5%). Chronic pain was estimated by reported pain located in various parts of the body. Childhood violence was measured by reported exposure of emotional, physical and/or sexual violence. Results Childhood violence was associated with adult chronic pain in several pain sites of the body regardless of ethnicity and gender. Childhood violence was also associated with increased number of chronic pain sites and higher pain intensity compared to those not exposed to childhood violence. However, among Sami men, this association was only significant for pain located in chest, hips/legs and back, and non-significant for increased number of chronic pain sites (adjusted model), and higher pain intensity. Conclusion Respondents exposed to childhood violence reported more chronic pain in several parts of the body, increased number of chronic pain sites and more intense pain in adulthood than respondents reporting no childhood violence. However, among Sami men, this association was weaker and also not significant for increased number of chronic pain sites and higher pain intensity

Childhood violence and mental health among indigenous Sami and non-Sami populations in Norway: a SAMINOR 2 questionnaire study

The main objectives of this study were to investigate the association between childhood violence and psychological distress and post-traumatic stress symptoms (PTS) among Sami and non-Sami adults, and to explore a possible mediating effect of childhood violence on any ethnic differences in mental health. This study is part of a larger questionnaire survey on health and living conditions in Mid- and Northern Norway (SAMINOR 2) which included 2116 Sami and 8674 non-Sami participants. A positive association between childhood violence and psychological distress and PTS in adulthood was found regardless of ethnicity. For women, childhood violence may have mediated some of the ethnic differences in psychological distress (53.2%) and PTS (31.4%). A similar pattern was found for men as to psychological distress (45.5%) and PTS (55.5%). The prevalence of psychological distress was significantly higher in the Sami than in the non-Sami group: 15.8% vs. 13.0% for women, and 11.4% vs. 8.0% for men. Likewise, PTS showed a higher prevalence in the Sami group, both for women (16.2% vs. 12.4%) and for men (12.2% vs. 9.1). Conclusion: A positive association between childhood violence and adult mental distress was found for both Sami and Norwegian adults. More mental problems were found among the Sami. Childhood violence may have mediated some of the ethnic differences

The influence of birth weight and length on bone mineral density and content in adolescence: The Tromsø Study, Fit Futures

Summary The influence of birth weight and length on bone mineral parameters in adolescence is unclear. We found a positive association between birth size and bone mineral content, attenuated by lifestyle factors. This highlights the impact of environmental stimuli and lifestyle during growth. Purpose The influence of birth weight and length on bone mineral density and content later in life is unclear, especially in adolescence. This study evaluated the impact of birth weight and length on bone mineral density and content among adolescents. Methods We included 961 participants from the population-based Fit Futures study (2010–2011). Dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) was used to measure bone mineral density (BMD) and bone mineral content (BMC) at femoral neck (FN), total hip (TH) and total body (TB). BMD and BMC measures were linked with birth weight and length ascertained from the Medical Birth Registry of Norway. Linear regression models were used to investigate the influence of birth parameters on BMD and BMC. Results Birth weight was positively associated with BMD-TB and BMC at all sites among girls; standardized β coefficients [95% CI] were 0.11 [0.01, 0.20] for BMD-TB and 0.15 [0.06, 0.24], 0.18 [0.09, 0.28] and 0.29 [0.20, 0.38] for BMC-FN, TH and TB, respectively. In boys, birth weight was positively associated with BMC at all sites with estimates of 0.10 [0.01, 0.19], 0.12 [0.03, 0.21] and 0.15 [0.07, 0.24] for FN, TH and TB, respectively. Corresponding analyses using birth length as exposure gave significantly positive associations with BMC at all sites in both sexes. The significant positive association between birth weight and BMC-TB in girls, and birth length and BMC-TB in boys remained after multivariable adjustment. Conclusions We found a positive association between birth size and BMC in adolescence. However, this association was attenuated after adjustment for weight, height and physical activity during adolescence

The influence of birth weight and length on bone mineral density and content in adolescence: The Tromsø Study, Fit Futures

Summary: The influence of birth weight and length on bone mineral parameters in adolescence is unclear. We found a positive association between birth size and bone mineral content, attenuated by lifestyle factors. This highlights the impact of environmental stimuli and lifestyle during growth. Purpose: The influence of birth weight and length on bone mineral density and content later in life is unclear, especially in adolescence. This study evaluated the impact of birth weight and length on bone mineral density and content among adolescents. Methods: We included 961 participants from the population-based Fit Futures study (2010–2011). Dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) was used to measure bone mineral density (BMD) and bone mineral content (BMC) at femoral neck (FN), total hip (TH) and total body (TB). BMD and BMC measures were linked with birth weight and length ascertained from the Medical Birth Registry of Norway. Linear regression models were used to investigate the influence of birth parameters on BMD and BMC. Results: Birth weight was positively associated with BMD-TB and BMC at all sites among girls; standardized β coefficients [95% CI] were 0.11 [0.01, 0.20] for BMD-TB and 0.15 [0.06, 0.24], 0.18 [0.09, 0.28] and 0.29 [0.20, 0.38] for BMC-FN, TH and TB, respectively. In boys, birth weight was positively associated with BMC at all sites with estimates of 0.10 [0.01, 0.19], 0.12 [0.03, 0.21] and 0.15 [0.07, 0.24] for FN, TH and TB, respectively. Corresponding analyses using birth length as exposure gave significantly positive associations with BMC at all sites in both sexes. The significant positive association between birth weight and BMC-TB in girls, and birth length and BMC-TB in boys remained after multivariable adjustment. Conclusions: We found a positive association between birth size and BMC in adolescence. However, this association was attenuated after adjustment for weight, height and physical activity during adolescence