Legitimacy is central to nearly all human relationships and, in turn, to most social science theories. The concept was invented to help account for social order in large societies. Since it is too costly to attain order in the long run on the basis of sanctions (whether derived from incentives or naked coercion), it stands to reason that order must also rest, in part, on the consent of the gove...

As human beings we are endowed with gregarious tendencies. Like most other primates we need to live in groups. Since we are also endowed with the capacity to communicate in sophisticated ways, particularly through language, we create cultural milieus. Cultural milieus prescribe and proscribe behaviour, that is, what people should do and should not do given their social surroundings and circumst...

As human beings we are endowed with gregarious tendencies. Like most other primates we need to live in groups. Since we are also endowed with the capacity to communicate in sophisticated ways, particularly through language, we create cultural milieus. Cultural milieus prescribe and proscribe behavior, that is, what people should do and should not do given their social surroundings and circumsta...

This essay reviews the literature and origins of the targeted sanctions framework. The development of smart sanctions has solved many of the political problems that prior efforts at comprehensive trade sanctions had created. In so doing, the idea of smart sanctions served as a useful focal point for policy coordination among key stakeholders. Nevertheless, there is no systematic evidence that s...

The paper provides an economic rationale for punishing repeat offenders with increasing sanctions. We analyse the optimal intertemporal punishment scheme within an infinite game framework. The legal authority is assumed to minimize the social cost of punishment under the constraint of keeping delinquency at a maximal tolerable level. This level is exogenously determined. JEL classification: K14

The policy of institutional delivery has been the cornerstone of actions aimed at monitoring and achieving MDG 5. Efforts to increase institutional births have been implemented worldwide within different cultural and health systems settings. This paper explores how communities in rural Burkina Faso perceive the promotion and delivery of facility pregnancy and birth care, and how this promotion ...

We measured the beliefs and behavior of third parties who were given the opportunity to add to or deduct from the payoffs of individuals who engaged in an economic bargaining game under different social contexts. Third parties rewarded bargaining outcomes that were equal and compensated victims of unfair bargaining outcomes rather than punishing perpetrators, but were willing to punish when com...

nature of the collective opportunity; its economic unimportance compared to the everyday social dilemmas the communities face; its short timeframe and finite nature; the contrived conditions under which the decisions are made; the need for any sanctions applied to emerge instantaneously; and the

with financial support from the European Community under the 7 th Framework Programme. The publication reflects the views of the author(s) and not those of the European Community, who is not to be held liable for any use that may be made of the information contained. Figure 2: Number of farms by number of sanctions per farm and year; slight sanctions (a) and severe sanctions (b), Swiss control ...