Gotowa bibliografia na temat „The judge’s role”

AbstractLay judges are citizens with particular knowledge of and experience with the judiciary. The findings of a survey among the lay judges of ten judiciaries are examined in this chapter. It is found that the perceptions of lay judges of judicial independence, their own as well as that of the professional judges, are very similar to the perceptions of the professional judges. In addition, lay judges are most positive about their independence, when they participate in judicial panels together with professional judges and when they are taken seriously by the professional judges. For them, these conditions surpass sitting alone as a judge. Although selection effects may play a role, the results indicate that experience as a lay judge leads to a much higher appreciation of judicial independence than that of (highly educated) citizens in general. This in turn indicates that the views of the general public are too negative about judicial independence.

Abstract In Chapter Three it was explained that the judge’s role in the contest model of proof is an umpireal one. This is the general, albeit not universally accepted, view of the role of the judge in the criminal trial. The judge should exhibit both authority and restraint, remain aloof yet attentive, act as umpire but never as player, to borrow terms from the ‘sporting theory of justice’ by which the adversarial tradition is frequently characterized and at times caricatured.1 Before we consider the extent to which judges adhered to this role in the Diplock and jury trials we observed, we need to delineate more precisely the limits of the judge’s sphere of permissible intervention in the course of the adversarial criminal trial.

Abstract Neither precedent nor principle nor reasoning dictates results. Judges must often make choices among plausible applications or extensions of existing doctrine. Those choices will be influenced by myriad factors, including the judge’s own policy preferences and views of the judicial role, the persuasiveness of the lawyers, the judge’s perception of public or legislative sentiment, and so on. These factors might sometimes counsel restraint and sometimes not. But one factor that influences judges always serves as a brake rather than as a goad: a preference for incremental rather than radical change.

Abstract This chapter explores various definitions or themes of the political role of judges. Equating political judging with legislative activity, which is indisputably value-laden, would mean that all judicial glosses and statements of common-law rules are legislative in nature and therefore political because they too are value-laden, and they too produce rules that look like legislation. Judicial intuition, here referred to as ‘hunching’, is also value-laden but generally unconscious. Fact-finding is also influenced by value-laden factors. The ‘lurches’ that are discussed in this chapter are more obvious examples of value-laden judging because the changes that they make in the law are major. The practice of judicial overruling is due to a perceived need to correct a precedent or to renovate the law in cases where the precedent was decided against a legal or factual background that no longer exits. However, some instances of overruling can only be explained by the ascension of new judges to the court, resulting in political (value-laden) overruling. Finally, this chapter discusses the issue of ideological judging. A judge’s ideology, whether conscious or unconscious, can have a substantial influence on the judge’s decision-making. Critically, this influence is seldom revealed in the rationalization of the judge’s decisions, in the so-called reasoning of the court. What role does political judging play in legal reasoning? The conclusion of this chapter is that politics, by any definition, has at least the potential to influence almost all judicial activity, including how judges reason in all permutations of the word ‘reason’.

This chapteroffers an example of the role that hypothetical jurors play for another critical legal actor: federal judges. Drawing at length on one criminal case, it examines a judge’s elaboration of hypothetical jurors’ perspectives when applying a discretionary rule of evidence (FRE 403). This rule considers whether the probative value of relevant evidence is significantly outweighed by its potential to unfairly prejudice jurors. Though real jurors adjudicated the case, the judge relied on imagined jurors to dramatically change the course of the trial. As part of this exercise, the prosecutors in the case came to appreciate that competing visions of justice can be claimed in an imagined jury’s name and caught a glimpse of what justice in the shadow of a judge, rather than jury, might look like.

Chapter 3 maps the current judicial selection landscape by describing a series of developments decades in the making that has altered the political environment of judicial elections in fundamental ways. The chapter begins with a table showing the breakdown across all fifty U.S. states regarding which of the five methods of selecting judges are used by each state in selecting its high court judges. An additional table demonstrates how each state treats the reselection of a judge after the judge’s initial appointment or election. The chapter then turns to the contributing causes of the new politics of judicial elections, which include the weakening of the Democratic Party in the southern states, the rise of discretionary Supreme Court Review and the decline of mundane cases, the migration of civil rights and civil liberties campaigns to state courts, the role judges play as enemy combatants in the War on Crime, and the battle for tort reform going on in the state courts, which have resulted in the changing landscape of the American judiciary. The chapter concludes with a discussion of the consequences of these changes.

"Legal technologies not only create new ways for accessing and providing legal services, but also transform the roles of legal practitioners. Major area of the application of legal technologies are courts. Some courts, e.g., in Austria, are already using legal technologies, Germany, Brazil, France, Netherlands, Russia and others are developing legal technologies. Both lawyers and users of legal services expect automated solutions to outperform people with efficiency, objectivity and impartiality. Although perception of various characteristics of legal technologies is crucial to their implementation and use, research on the perceived characteristics of the automated processes in legal contexts have just begun. One of the major obstacles to this research is lack of comprehensive understanding what legal actions could be or already are meaningfully automated, and to what extent. The aim of this study is to map decision making stages, and automation levels, and information processing features of legal activities related to (pre)trial processes. Major legal decisions and judgments related to trial processes are identified during the consultations with legal practitioners (e.g., prosecutor, judge). Next, legal activities were described and arranged according to four-stage decision making process: information acquisition, information analysis, decision selection and decision implementation. A taxonomy of levels of automation (LOA) was customized to fit legal decision making and applied to describe each major legal activity. Lastly, dual-process model of information processing was used to delineate possible roles of intuitive and rational information processing taking place during (pre)trial decision making as they could be related to human-automation interaction. Automation level analysis provides systematic approach to interaction between humans and algorithms, along with some groundwork for the research of legal technology perceived fairness and acceptance. 10 legal activities which apply both to judge’s and prosecutor’s (potentially any other lawyer’s) legal work were discerned. The application of adapted LOA (5 levels) provided some insights into legal decision making as it allows to place existing technology, test the trust in technology threshold, and have more tangible view of automation in legal activities. Moreover, a modified hybrid default-interventionist model is proposed. It brings even more depth into analysis by specifying the role of “legal” and “heuristic” intuitions as well as the part rationalization plays in potential bias sources and formation."

Starting from the role of the feudal judges in the distribution of justice in Wallachia and Moldova, briefly reviewing the evolution of the legislative codification of their mission in the resolution of disputes brought before the courts, this paper analysis through the method of historical and comparative research, the orientation of the Romanian legislator towards the expansion of the freedom of the judge in finding out the truth and avoiding any judicial error. Without any doubt, it`s main task is to correctly identify the facts on which he has to rule, to apply and interpret the law and render a thorough and legal decision in accordance with the general principles contained in the Code of Civil Procedure and special laws, despite the section of law in which he is called to do justice. The main question which arises is, when solving labour and social security disputes, the judge also needs to embrace a conciliatory role? Using the qualitative methodology approach and the personal experience as a judge we will highlight that judges are ment to act like a balance between the power of the employer and employee when invested with labour disputes. Examining the jurisprudence in this matter of law, in the context of a significant increase in the number of labour disputes registered before the courts in Romania, specifically the ones that imply collective and individual dismissals, the role of the judge must be an active and positive one, oriented towards the protection of social rights and ensuring an equilibrium between the two sides of the employment contract.

The discipline of judges is an essential pillar of the judicial career. The proper management of this field is imperative, from the perspective of the need to ensure the balance between judicial independence and judicial responsibility, but also from the perspective of the impact of a disciplinary procedure on the image of the concerned judges and on the judiciary. In this context, the activity of the specialized bodies subordinated to the Superior Council of Magistracy with competencies regarding judicial discipline (the Disciplinary Board and the Judicial Inspection) is of increased doctrinal and professional interest. An overview of the current situation on this dimension is reflected in the Decisions of the Disciplinary Board and in the Annual Activity Reports of the concerned entities. The paper includes an analysis focused on a new trend found by the Judicial Inspection in 2022, namely on the fact of the submission of notifications regarding possible disciplinary violations committed by judges - also by fellow judges. What would be the causes that generated such a trend, how does this trend reflect the state of affairs in the judiciary, what would be the role of judicial self-government in ensuring the responsibility of individual judges and what would be the value of professional communication within the judicial system - these are some aspects researched in the paper, from the perspective of governance modernization mechanisms, focused on the protection of human rights.

In this article, we delve into the concepts of disciplinary responsibility and judicial evaluation, exploring their interconnectedness and impact on the judicial system. Emphasizing the maintenance of high standards of professionalism and integrity among judges, we analyze the role of periodic evaluations in ensuring judicial quality and efficiency. Additionally, we examine how disciplinary regulations contribute to holding judges accountable for their actions. By providing detailed insights into these mechanisms, we aim to offer a comprehensive understanding of how these practices uphold fairness and transparency in the administration of justice.

The election of judges to the International Criminal Court (ICC) is a critical process that shapes the Court’s legitimacy and effectiveness. This paper delves into the normative framework governing the election of ICC judges, explores the challenges arising from the past election cycles, examines national nomination procedures in the State Parties, and discusses the efforts to enhance these procedures. By scrutinizing these aspects, the paper aims to contribute to the ongoing discourse on improving the democratic legitimacy of the ICC through the lens of the recent, ongoing and the forthcoming activities of the Advisory Committee for nomination of judges of the International Criminal Court (ACN), but also with respect of the role that in that plays the Assembly of ICC (ASP). Since ACN plays a pivotal role in enhancing the nomination procedures for ICC judges, it has been actively engaged in developing non-binding instruments aimed at improving the transparency, inclusivity, and integrity of the nomination process. These efforts were made in response to the challenges identified in past election cycles, including concerns regarding the quality of candidates and nomination process itself, gender and geographical representation, and overall fairness.

International law and national law and legal regime.The paper analyzed all situations in which the two systems of laws positively interact.The lacuna en droit is detested by the doctrine and all court levels,however,the national and international judges tend invariably to apply rules of exaequo et Bono,these rules are applicable by international arbitratios and law courts. The paper analyzed as well the rules that enable international law to perform it's job and the challenges they encounter the function.

Forensic psychology is an emerging field that has gained increasing attention in the Albanian justice system. It encompasses the application of psy­chological knowledge and principles to aid judges, attorneys, and law enforce­ment officials in understanding complex legal issues, investigating crimes, and making informed decisions. The purpose of this paper is to explore the role and significance of forensic psychology in the Albanian justice system. Forensic psychologists in Albania play a crucial role in criminal proceedings by providing expert psychological assessments of defendants, witnesses, and vic­tims. They evaluate the mental capacity and state of mind of defendants at the time of the crime, which helps judges and juries to make informed decisions. Fo­rensic psychologists also assist with profiling, risk assessments, and other inves­tigative techniques to aid in criminal investigations. One of the essential benefits of using forensic psychology in the Albanian jus­tice system is to reduce prejudice and bias. Forensic psychologists provide ob­jective, scientific evidence to the court, which improves the fairness and accu­racy of criminal trials. The challenge facing forensic psychology in Albania is the lack of specialized training and education programs in forensic psychology. There are few profes­sionals in the field, and therefore, forensic psychology services are not widely available. Investing in more education and training programs would increase the number of qualified experts in the field, thus leading to more extensive and effective utilization of forensic psychology in criminal proceedings. In conclusion, forensic psychology is a vital aspect of the Albanian justice sys­tem. Its use can help reduce bias and prejudice in criminal trials while improv­ing the accuracy of decisions. However, the field faces challenges in terms of the need for specialized training and education programs for professionals. By find­ing the right balance between complexity and variation, we can ensure that our content is engaging and informative.

Three survey experiments examined the effect of cues describing a target’s socioeconomic status (SES) on participants’ judgements after the target transgressed the social norm of punctuality. Hypotheses were formulated based on Fiske’s (2018) stereotype content model. In Study 1 (N = 243) participants were randomly assigned to read a vignette describing a gender ambiguous student as low-SES (versus high-SES) arriving late to an exam and then judged the tardy student. Judges showed more leniency when the student was described as low-SES than high-SES. In Study 2 (N = 40), the target was a male job applicant arriving late to an interview. Hiring intentions were significantly higher for the low SES candidate. Study 3 (N = 69) described a gender-neutral job applicant and specified the job position status as managerial while exploring two punctuality-related covariates: participants’ own SES and ADHD symptoms. The same direction of bias was observed: A main effect of experimental condition in favor of the low SES applicant. In addition, we found a significant role of ADHD scores on hiring intentions and likability indicating overall higher scores from participants with more ADHD symptoms. Overall findings supported Weiner and Laurent’s (2021) wealth-based moral judgement gap.

As artificial intelligence transforms the economy and American society, it will also transform the practice of law and the role of courts in regulating its use. What role should, will, or might judges play in addressing the use of AI? And relatedly, how will AI and machine learning impact judicial practice in federal and state courts? This report is intended to provide a framework for judges to address AI.

AIMS & OBJECTIVES:1) To evaluate the effect of gum chewing on the duration of postoperative ileus following abdominal surgeries. Patients in study group (n=25) were asked to chew one stick of METHODS: chewing gum for 30 min four times a day until passing atus while the control group (n=25) patients were kept nil per orally until the passage of atus. RESULTS: Based on the results it can be concluded that on chewing gum it was seen that the duration of overall recovery of bowel movements in form of appearance of bowel sound, passing atus and motion and feeling of hunger, occurred early in patients chewing gum CONCLUSION:Gum chewing after abdominal surgeries has shown to signicantly reduced postoperative ileus as judged by the appearance of bowelsounds ansd passage of atus as well as stools.

We analyze the outcomes of 332 cases from a labor court in Mexico in which a judge awarded money to a plaintiff who claimed to have been fired by a firm without cause. The judgments were enforced in only 40% of the cases. A plaintiff may try to enforce a judgment by petitioning the court to seize the firm's assets when the firm refuses to pay. Thirty eight percent of the enforced judgments required at least one seizure attempt. We estimate the parameters of post judgment games in which the worker does not know if a seizure attempt would ultimately succeed and show that these models explain the data well. We then simulate the effects of a policy that reduces worker costs of a seizure attempt. We find that this policy would increase the probability of enforcement, either by increasing the probability that the worker attempts an asset seizure or by inducing firms to pay voluntarily to avoid such seizure attempts. However, reducing worker costs of seizure attempts can only have a modest effect on enforcement probabilities because a high percentage of firms are able to avoid payment in spite of worker efforts to force collection.

This study operates from the foundation that some arguments are more successful than others; some being more persuasive and convincing. Arguments adjudged successful by experts in the field of argumentation were examined, with specific interest in the evaluation of the rhetoric employed. This corpus of material was formed from speeches, interviews and other data previously recorded from the final rounds of competitive and prestigious international debates. The debate aspect was primarily composed of championship-winning speeches, judged by experienced grand final adjudicators on three constitutionally-specified categories: matter, manner and method. The research questions fundamental to this study are centered on different aspects of reasoning for this possible success. While no study might be exhaustive at this stage of examination, given the dearth of previous research findings related to debate tactics, the research parameters were thus: strategies and style for making and delivering arguments; the four types of argument patterns; the A-R-E Model (Assertion-Reasoning-Evidence making a complete argument) in terms of their frequency and common moves; and the use of particular language communicative functions, speech patterns and vocabulary. Together, these provide a very useful insight into how successful arguments are formed and what makes them such. The paper ends with findings and implications for English language teaching, argumentation and negotiation, and for debate training and coaching as well as suggested further studies to enhance effective cooperative and competitive English communication to prepare young Thai people for their role in the forthcoming ASEAN Economic Community.

Our study was designed to elucidate the chemical determinants of pectin cross-linking in developing fruits of apple and peach and to evaluate the role of breakage cross-linkages in swelling, softening, and cell separation during the ripening. Peaches cell walls soften and swell considerably during the ripening, whereas apples fruit cells maintain wall firmness but cells separate during late stages of ripening. We used a "double-reduction" technique to show that levels of non-methyl esters of polyuronic acid molecules were constant during the development and ripening and decreased only in overripe fruit. In peach, methyl and non-methyl esters increased during the development and decreased markedly during the ripening. Non-methyl ester linkages in both fruit decreased accompanied fruit softening. The identity of the second component of the linkage and its definitive role in the fruit softening remain elusive. In preliminary examination of isolated apples cell walls, we found that phenolic compounds accumulate early in wall development but decrease markedly during ripening. Quantitative texture analysis was used to correlate with changes to wall chemistry from the fresh-picked ripe stage to the stage during storage when the cell separation occurs. Cell wall composition is similar in all cultivars, with arabinose as the principal neutral sugar. Extensive de-branching of these highly branched arabinans pre-stages softening and cell-cell separation during over-ripening of apple. The longer 5-arabinans remain attached to the major pectic polymer rhamnogalacturonan I (RG I) backbone. The degree of RG I branching, as judged from the ratios of 2-Rha:2,4-Rha, also decreases, specially after an extensive arabinan de-branching. Loss of the 4-Rham linkages correlated strongly with the softening of the fruit. Loss of the monomer or polymer linked to the RG I produce directly or indirectly the softening of the fruit. This result will help to understand the fruit softening and to have better control of the textural changes in fruit during the ripening and especially during the storage. 'Wooliness', an undesirable mealy texture that is induced during chilling of some peach cultivars, greatly reduces the fruit storage possibilities. In order to examine the hypothesis that the basis for this disorder is related to abnormality in the cell wall softening process we have carried out a comparative analysis using the resistant cultivar, Sunsnow, and a sensitive one, Hermosa. We investigated the activity of several pectin- and glycan-modifying enzymes and the expression of their genes during ripening, chilling, and subsequent shelf-life. The changes in carbohydrate status and in methyl vs. non-methyl uronate ester levels in the walls of these cultivars were examined as well to provide a basis for comparison of the relevant gene expression that may impact appearance of the wooly character. The activities of the specific polygalacturonase (PGase) and a CMC-cellulase activities are significantly elevated in walls of peaches that have become wooly. Cellulase activities correlated well with increased level of the transcript, but differential expression of PGase did not correspond with the observed pattern of mRNA accumulation. When expression of ethylene biosynthesis related genes was followed no significant differences in ACC synthase gene expression was observed in the wooly fruit while the normal activation of the ACC oxidase was partially repressed in the Hermosa wooly fruits. Normal ripening-related loss of the uronic acid-rich polymers was stalled in the wooly Hermosa inconsistent with the observed elevation in a specific PGase activity but consistent with PG gene expression. In general, analysis of the level of total esterification, degree of methyl esterification and level of non-methyl esters did not reveal any major alterations between the different fruit varieties or between normal and abnormal ripening. Some decrease in the level of uronic acids methyl esterification was observed for both Hermosa and Sunsnow undergoing ripening following storage at low temperature but not in fruits ripening after harvest. Our results support a role for imbalanced cell wall degradation as a basis for the chilling disorder. While these results do not support a role for the imbalance between PG and pectin methyl esterase (PME) activities as the basis for the disorder they suggest a possible role for imbalance between cellulose and other cell wall polymer degradation during the softening process.

The main goal of this research plan was to elucidate regulatory mechanisms controlling the development, function of the bovine corpus luteum (CL). The CL contains two different sterodigenic cell types and therefore it was necessary to obtain pure cell population. A system was developed in which granulosa and theca interna cells, isolated from a preovulatory follicle, acquired characteristics typical of large (LL) and small (SL) luteal cells, respectively, as judged by several biochemical and morphological criteria. Experiments were conducted to determine the effects of granulosa cells removal on subsequent CL function, the results obtained support the concept that granulosa cells make a substaintial contribution to the output of progesterone by the cyclic CL but may have a limited role in determining the functional lifespan of the CL. This experimental model was also used to better understand the contribution of follicular granulosa cells to subsequent luteal SCC mRNA expression. The mitochondrial cytochrome side-chain cleavage enzyme (SCC), which converts cholesterol to pregnenolone, is the first and rate-limiting enzyme of the steroidogenic pathway. Experiments were conducted to characterize the gene expression of P450scc in bovine CL. Levels of P450scc mRNA were higher during mid-luteal phase than in either the early or late luteal phases. PGF 2a injection decreased luteal P450scc mRNA in a time-dependent manner; levels were significantly reduced by 2h after treatment. CLs obtained from heifers on day 8 of the estrous cycle which had granulosa cells removed had a 45% reduction in the levels of mRNA for SCC enzymes as well as a 78% reduction in the numbers of LL cells. To characterize SCC expression in each steroidogenic cell type we utilized pure cell populations. Upon luteinization, LL expressed 2-3 fold higher amounts of both SCC enzymes mRNAs than SL. Moreover, eight days after stimulant removal, LL retained their P4 production capacity, expressed P450scc mRNA and contained this protein. In our attempts to establish the in vitro luteinization model, we had to select the prevulatory and pre-gonadotropin surge follicles. The ratio of estradiol:P4 which is often used was unreliable since P4 levels are high in atretic follicles and also in preovulatory post-gonadotropin follicles. We have therefore examined whether oxytocin (OT) levels in follicular fluids could enhance our ability to correctly and easily define follicular status. Based on E2 and OT concentrations in follicular fluids we could more accurately identify follicles that are preovulatory and post gonadotropin surge. Next we studied OT biosynthesis in granulosa cells, cells which were incubated with forskolin contained stores of the precursor indicating that forskolin (which mimics gonadotropin action) is an effective stimulator of OT biosynthesis and release. While studying in vitro luteinization, we noticed that IGF-I induced effects were not identical to those induced by insulin despite the fact that megadoses of insulin were used. This was the first indication that the cells may secrete IGF binding protein(s) which regonize IGFs and not insulin. In a detailed study involving several techniques, we characterized the species of IGF binding proteins secreted by luteal cells. The effects of exogenous polyunsaturated fatty acids and arachidonic acid on the production of P4 and prostanoids by dispersed bovine luteal cells was examined. The addition of eicosapentaenoic acid and arachidonic acid resulted in a dose-dependent reduction in basal and LH-stimulated biosynthesis of P4 and PGI2 and an increase in production of PGF 2a and 5-HETE production. Indomethacin, an inhibitor of arachidonic acid metabolism via the production of 5-HETE was unaffected. Results of these experiments suggest that the inhibitory effect of arachidonic acid on the biosynthesis of luteal P4 is due to either a direct action of arachidonic acid, or its conversion to 5-HETE via the lipoxgenase pathway of metabolism. The detailed and important information gained by the two labs elucidated the mode of action of factors crucially important to the function of the bovine CL. The data indicate that follicular granulosa cells make a major contribution to numbers of large luteal cells, OT and basal P4 production, as well as the content of cytochrome P450 scc. Granulosa-derived large luteal cells have distinct features: when luteinized, the cell no longer possesses LH receptors, its cAMP response is diminished yet P4 synthesis is sustained. This may imply that maintenance of P4 (even in the absence of a Luteotropic signal) during critical periods such as pregnancy recognition, is dependent on the proper luteinization and function of the large luteal cell.

Executive Summary This report describes a series of experiments carried out by PRICE Lab, a research programme at the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) jointly funded by the Central Bank of Ireland, the Commission for Energy Regulation, the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission and the Commission for Communications Regulation. The experiments were conducted with samples of Irish consumers aged 18-70 years and were designed to answer the following general research question: At what point do products become too complex for consumers to choose accurately between the good ones and the bad ones? BACKGROUND AND METHODS PRICE Lab represents a departure from traditional methods employed for economic research in Ireland. It belongs to the rapidly expanding area of ‘behavioural economics’, which is the application of psychological insights to economic analysis. In recent years, behavioural economics has developed novel methods and generated many new findings, especially in relation to the choices made by consumers. These scientific advances have implications both for economics and for policy. They suggest that consumers often do not make decisions in the way that economists have traditionally assumed. The findings show that consumers have limited capacity for attending to and processing information and that they are prone to systematic biases, all of which may lead to disadvantageous choices. In short, consumers may make costly mistakes. Research has indeed documented that in several key consumer markets, including financial services, utilities and telecommunications, many consumers struggle to choose the best products for themselves. It is often argued that these markets involve ‘complex’ products. The obvious question that arises is whether consumer policy can be used to help them to make better choices when faced with complex products. Policies are more likely to be successful where they are informed by an accurate understanding of how real consumers make decisions between products. To provide evidence for consumer policy, PRICE Lab has developed a method for measuring the accuracy with which consumers make choices, using techniques adapted from the scientific study of human perception. The method allows researchers to measure how reliably consumers can distinguish a good deal from a bad one. A good deal is defined here as one where the product is more valuable than the price paid. In other words, it offers good value for money or, in the jargon of economics, offers the consumer a ‘surplus’. Conversely, a bad deal offers poor value for money, providing no (or a negative) surplus. PRICE Lab’s main experimental method, which we call the ‘Surplus Identification’ (S-ID) task, allows researchers to measure how accurately consumers can spot a surplus and whether they are prone to systematic biases. Most importantly, the S-ID task can be used to study how the accuracy of consumers’ decisions changes as the type of product changes. For the experiments we report here, samples of consumers arrived at the ESRI one at a time and spent approximately one hour doing the S-ID task with different kinds of products, which were displayed on a computer screen. They had to learn to judge the value of one or more products against prices and were then tested for accuracy. As well as people’s intrinsic motivation to do well when their performance on a task like this is tested, we provided an incentive: one in every ten consumers who attended PRICE Lab won a prize, based on their performance. Across a series of these experiments, we were able to test how the accuracy of consumers’ decisions was affected by the number and nature of the product’s characteristics, or ‘attributes’, which they had to take into account in order to distinguish good deals from bad ones. In other words, we were able to study what exactly makes for a ‘complex’ product, in the sense that consumers find it difficult to choose good deals. FINDINGS Overall, across all ten experiments described in this report, we found that consumers’ judgements of the value of products against prices were surprisingly inaccurate. Even when the product was simple, meaning that it consisted of just one clearly perceptible attribute (e.g. the product was worth more when it was larger), consumers required a surplus of around 16-26 per cent of the total price range in order to be able to judge accurately that a deal was a good one rather than a bad one. Put another way, when most people have to map a characteristic of a product onto a range of prices, they are able to distinguish at best between five and seven levels of value (e.g. five levels might be thought of as equivalent to ‘very bad’, ‘bad’, ‘average’, ‘good’, ‘very good’). Furthermore, we found that judgements of products against prices were not only imprecise, but systematically biased. Consumers generally overestimated what products at the top end of the range were worth and underestimated what products at the bottom end of the range were worth, typically by as much as 10-15 per cent and sometimes more. We then systematically increased the complexity of the products, first by adding more attributes, so that the consumers had to take into account, two, three, then four different characteristics of the product simultaneously. One product might be good on attribute A, not so good on attribute B and available at just above the xii | PRICE Lab: An Investigation of Consumers’ Capabilities with Complex Products average price; another might be very good on A, middling on B, but relatively expensive. Each time the consumer’s task was to judge whether the deal was good or bad. We would then add complexity by introducing attribute C, then attribute D, and so on. Thus, consumers had to negotiate multiple trade-offs. Performance deteriorated quite rapidly once multiple attributes were in play. Even the best performers could not integrate all of the product information efficiently – they became substantially more likely to make mistakes. Once people had to consider four product characteristics simultaneously, all of which contributed equally to the monetary value of the product, a surplus of more than half the price range was required for them to identify a good deal reliably. This was a fundamental finding of the present experiments: once consumers had to take into account more than two or three different factors simultaneously their ability to distinguish good and bad deals became strikingly imprecise. This finding therefore offered a clear answer to our primary research question: a product might be considered ‘complex’ once consumers must take into account more than two or three factors simultaneously in order to judge whether a deal is good or bad. Most of the experiments conducted after we obtained these strong initial findings were designed to test whether consumers could improve on this level of performance, perhaps for certain types of products or with sufficient practice, or whether the performance limits uncovered were likely to apply across many different types of product. An examination of individual differences revealed that some people were significantly better than others at judging good deals from bad ones. However the differences were not large in comparison to the overall effects recorded; everyone tested struggled once there were more than two or three product attributes to contend with. People with high levels of numeracy and educational attainment performed slightly better than those without, but the improvement was small. We also found that both the high level of imprecision and systematic bias were not reduced substantially by giving people substantial practice and opportunities to learn – any improvements were slow and incremental. A series of experiments was also designed to test whether consumers’ capability was different depending on the type of product attribute. In our initial experiments the characteristics of the products were all visual (e.g., size, fineness of texture, etc.). We then performed similar experiments where the relevant product information was supplied as numbers (e.g., percentages, amounts) or in categories (e.g., Type A, Rating D, Brand X), to see whether performance might improve. This question is important, as most financial and contractual information is supplied to consumers in a numeric or categorical form. The results showed clearly that the type of product information did not matter for the level of imprecision and bias in consumers’ decisions – the results were essentially the same whether the product attributes were visual, numeric or categorical. What continued to drive performance was how many characteristics the consumer had to judge simultaneously. Thus, our findings were not the result of people failing to perceive or take in information accurately. Rather, the limiting factor in consumers’ capability was how many different factors they had to weigh against each other at the same time. In most of our experiments the characteristics of the product and its monetary value were related by a one-to-one mapping; each extra unit of an attribute added the same amount of monetary value. In other words, the relationships were all linear. Because other findings in behavioural economics suggest that consumers might struggle more with non-linear relationships, we designed experiments to test them. For example, the monetary value of a product might increase more when the amount of one attribute moves from very low to low, than when it moves from high to very high. We found that this made no difference to either the imprecision or bias in consumers’ decisions provided that the relationship was monotonic (i.e. the direction of the relationship was consistent, so that more or less of the attribute always meant more or less monetary value respectively). When the relationship involved a turning point (i.e. more of the attribute meant higher monetary value but only up to a certain point, after which more of the attribute meant less value) consumers’ judgements were more imprecise still. Finally, we tested whether familiarity with the type of product improved performance. In most of the experiments we intentionally used products that were new to the experimental participants. This was done to ensure experimental control and so that we could monitor learning. In the final experiment reported here, we used two familiar products (Dublin houses and residential broadband packages) and tested whether consumers could distinguish good deals from bad deals any better among these familiar products than they could among products that they had never seen before, but which had the same number and type of attributes and price range. We found that consumers’ performance was the same for these familiar products as for unfamiliar ones. Again, what primarily determined the amount of imprecision and bias in consumers’ judgments was the number of attributes that they had to balance against each other, regardless of whether these were familiar or novel. POLICY IMPLICATIONS There is a menu of consumer polices designed to assist consumers in negotiating complex products. A review, including international examples, is given in the main body of the report. The primary aim is often to simplify the consumer’s task. Potential policies, versions of which already exist in various forms and which cover a spectrum of interventionist strength, might include: the provision and endorsement of independent, transparent price comparison websites and other choice engines (e.g. mobile applications, decision software); the provision of high quality independent consumer advice; ‘mandated simplification’, whereby regulations stipulate that providers must present product information in a simplified and standardised format specifically determined by regulation; and more strident interventions such as devising and enforcing prescriptive rules and regulations in relation to permissible product descriptions, product features or price structures. The present findings have implications for such policies. However, while the experimental findings have implications for policy, it needs to be borne in mind that the evidence supplied here is only one factor in determining whether any given intervention in markets is likely to be beneficial. The findings imply that consumers are likely to struggle to choose well in markets with products consisting of multiple important attributes that must all be factored in when making a choice. Interventions that reduce this kind of complexity for consumers may therefore be beneficial, but nothing in the present research addresses the potential costs of such interventions, or how providers are likely to respond to them. The findings are also general in nature and are intended to give insights into consumer choices across markets. There are likely to be additional factors specific to certain markets that need to be considered in any analysis of the costs and benefits of a potential policy change. Most importantly, the policy implications discussed here are not specific to Ireland or to any particular product market. Furthermore, they should not be read as criticisms of existing regulatory regimes, which already go to some lengths in assisting consumers to deal with complex products. Ireland currently has extensive regulations designed to protect consumers, both in general and in specific markets, descriptions of which can be found in Section 9.1 of the main report. Nevertheless, the experiments described here do offer relevant guidance for future policy designs. For instance, they imply that while policies that make it easier for consumers to switch providers may be necessary to encourage active consumers, they may not be sufficient, especially in markets where products are complex. In order for consumers to benefit, policies that help them to identify better deals reliably may also be required, given the scale of inaccuracy in consumers’ decisions that we record in this report when products have multiple important attributes. Where policies are designed to assist consumer decisions, the present findings imply quite severe limits in relation to the volume of information consumers can simultaneously take into account. Good impartial Executive Summary | xv consumer advice may limit the volume of information and focus on ensuring that the most important product attributes are recognised by consumers. The findings also have implications for the role of competition. While consumers may obtain substantial potential benefits from competition, their capabilities when faced with more complex products are likely to reduce such benefits. Pressure from competition requires sufficient numbers of consumers to spot and exploit better value offerings. Given our results, providers with larger market shares may face incentives to increase the complexity of products in an effort to dampen competitive pressure and generate more market power. Where marketing or pricing practices result in prices or attributes with multiple components, our findings imply that consumer choices are likely to become less accurate. Policymakers must of course be careful in determining whether such practices amount to legitimate innovations with potential consumer benefit. Yet there is a genuine danger that spurious complexity can be generated that confuses consumers and protects market power. The results described here provide backing for the promotion and/or provision by policymakers of high-quality independent choice engines, including but not limited to price comparison sites, especially in circumstances where the number of relevant product attributes is high. A longer discussion of the potential benefits and caveats associated with such policies is contained in the main body of the report. Mandated simplification policies are gaining in popularity internationally. Examples include limiting the number of tariffs a single energy company can offer or standardising health insurance products, both of which are designed to simplify the comparisons between prices and/or product attributes. The present research has some implications for what might make a good mandate. Consumer decisions are likely to be improved where a mandate brings to the consumer’s attention the most important product attributes at the point of decision. The present results offer guidance with respect to how many key attributes consumers are able simultaneously to trade off, with implications for the design of standardised disclosures. While bearing in mind the potential for imposing costs, the results also suggest benefits to compulsory ‘meta-attributes’ (such as APRs, energy ratings, total costs, etc.), which may help consumers to integrate otherwise separate sources of information. FUTURE RESEARCH The experiments described here were designed to produce findings that generalise across multiple product markets. However, in addition to the results outlined in this report, the work has resulted in new experimental methods that can be applied to more specific consumer policy issues. This is possible because the methods generate experimental measures of the accuracy of consumers’ decision-making. As such, they can be adapted to assess the quality of consumers’ decisions in relation to specific products, pricing and marketing practices. Work is underway in PRICE Lab that applies these methods to issues in specific markets, including those for personal loans, energy and mobile phones.

The purpose of this study was to provide evidence-based advice on the status and future role of the Humanities in South Africa to government and other stakeholders (such as science councils, the department of education, universities) as a contribution towards improving the human condition. Everywhere, the Humanities is judged by many to be in “crisis.” The reasons for this, in South Africa, include the governmental emphasis on science and technology; the political emphasis on the economically-grounded idea of “developmentalism;” the shift of values among youth (and their parents) towards practical employment and financial gain; and the argument that the challenges faced by our society are so urgent and immediate that the reflective and critical modes of thinking favoured in the Humanities seem to be unaffordable luxuries. The Report provides invaluable detail about the challenges and opportunities associated with tapping the many pools of excellence that exist in the country. It should be used as a guideline for policymakers to do something concrete to improve the circumstances faced by the Humanities, not only in South Africa but also around the world. Amongst other recommendations, the Report calls for the establishment of a Council for the Humanities to advise government on how to improve the status and standing of the Humanities in South Africa. It also calls for initiation, through the leadership of the Department of Basic Education, considered measures to boost knowledge of and positive choices for the Humanities throughout the twelve years of schooling, including progressive ways of privileging the Arts, History and Languages in the school curriculum through Grade 12.