Justifications, Excuses, and Affirmative Defenses

2020 ◽  
Vol 36 (2) ◽  
pp. 343-377 ◽  
Author(s):  
Murat C Mungan
Keyword(s):  
Social Costs ◽  
Social Benefits ◽  
Economic Rationale ◽  
Standards Of Proof ◽  
Affirmative Defenses ◽  
Evidentiary Standards ◽  
Affirmative Defense

Abstract A defendant who admits to having committed an offense may nevertheless be acquitted if he can provide a legally cognizable justification or excuse for his actions by raising an affirmative defense. This article explains how affirmative defenses generate social benefits in the form of avoided unnecessary punishment. It then asks what kind of evidentiary standards must be used in order to balance these benefits against potential social costs arising from frivolous defense claims. It thereby provides an economic rationale for the uniformity across US jurisdictions in allocating the burden on the prosecution to prove the commission of the offense, as well as the variation across states in the standards of proof they use in determining the validity of affirmative defenses. The analysis also explains why mere assertions of undeterrability should not be considered as affirmative defenses. (JEL K00, K14, K40, K41, K42)

Social Benefits and Social Costs of Drug Control Laws

1978 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-7 ◽  
Author(s):  
John C. Kramer
Keyword(s):  
Drug Use ◽  
Social Costs ◽  
Drug Control ◽  
Social Benefits ◽  
Black Markets ◽  
Control Laws ◽  
Benefits And Costs ◽  
Levels Of Control

While drug control laws tend to reduce the incidence of drug use, their enforcement is not without cost to society. Among the most obvious costs is the development of black markets in drugs and the criminalization of users. Modest control laws can substantially reduce drug use without incurring serious social costs. However, increasing the severity of control laws adds less and less to the benefits achieved and more and more to the costs to society. Ultimately the costs outweigh the benefits. We should aim for optimum levels of control by weighing both the benefits and costs of our drug control laws.

Assessment of environmental and economic benefits of packaging waste system in Italy

2021 ◽  
pp. 37-58
Author(s):  
Francesco Colelli ◽  
Edoardo Croci
Keyword(s):  
Waste Management ◽  
Raw Materials ◽  
Economic Benefits ◽  
Social Costs ◽  
Social Benefits ◽  
Waste Generation ◽  
Macroeconomic Factors ◽  
Packaging Waste ◽  
Avoided Emissions ◽  
Social Costs And Benefits

The paper quantifies social costs and social benefits of packaging waste management system in Italy from 2015 to 2030. Future social costs and benefits are estimated based on the growth of waste generated and on the stringency of recycling and landfilling targets. Packaging waste generation is projected based on macroeconomic factors, consumer practices and technological eco-innovations. Social benefits are derived by the reduction of externalities' correspondent to the achievement of packaging waste management targets. We quantify two environmental ben-efits: avoided emissions and raw materials saved. We find that social costs may rise substan-tially in the future, as total system's operations costs in 2030 may increase by 48% with re-spect to 2015, due to the growth in the quantities of packaging waste generated. Meeting recy-cling and landfilling targets set by the new Circular Economy Package would imply a further 5% increase in total social costs in 2015. This latter increase is more than compensated by so-cial benefits related to the reduction in externalities due to more stringent targets.

Evaluating the economic and social benefits of multiutility tunnels with an agent-based simulation approach

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Chengke Wu ◽  
Peng Wu ◽  
Rui Jiang ◽  
Jun Wang ◽  
Xiangyu Wang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Traffic Congestion ◽  
Road Network ◽  
Social Costs ◽  
Social Benefits ◽  
Economic Costs ◽  
Construction Costs ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Agent Based ◽  
The Road ◽  
Underground Utilities

PurposeMultiutility tunnel (MUT) has been recognised as a more sustainable method to place underground utilities than the traditional directly buried (DB) method. However, the implementation of MUT is hindered because of high initial construction costs and the difficulty to demonstrate its benefits, especially social benefits that are hard to be quantified. To address the limitation, this paper aims to quantify and compare both economic costs and traveller loss (i.e. an important part of social costs) of the MUT and DB method.Design/methodology/approachAn agent-based model (ABM) is developed, which considers attributes and actions of vehicles, interactions between vehicles and interactions between vehicles and the road network. The ABM is used to estimate traveller loss by comparing traveller time when the MUT and DB method is adopted, respectively. The traveller loss is combined with economic costs to estimate and compare the LCC of the MUT and DB method. To verify the ABM-based approach, it is implemented in an MUT project in Shanghai, China.FindingsResults of the study indicate: (1) When the DB method is adopted, periodic E&Rs cause severe traffic congestion and substantial traveller loss. (2) When traveller loss is not included in the LCC estimation, the DB method has a lower LCC in most scenarios. (3) When traveller loss is included, the relative LCC of MUT and the time it takes to cover the LCC of the MUT and DB method is largely reduced. Thus, when social costs are considered, MUT will bring more benefits than the DB method.Originality/valuePrevious studies on comparing the MUT and DB method focus on investigating economic costs, while other costs, e.g. social costs, are not well addressed quantitatively. Besides, current studies of traveller loss estimation lack consideration of factors such as unique attributes, actions and interactions of vehicles and the network. Hence, this paper applies an ABM-based approach to involve these factors and produce more reliable estimation of traveller loss than existing approaches. Moreover, by integrating traveller loss into LCC analysis, this paper helps to understand the benefits of MUT thus assisting decision-making in selecting utilities placement methods.

Medical licensure: Social costs and social benefits.

1983 ◽  
Vol 7 (2-3) ◽  
pp. 147-156 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elton Rayack
Keyword(s):  
Social Costs ◽  
Social Benefits

The Dark Side of Luxury: Social Costs of Luxury Consumption

2018 ◽  
Vol 45 (5) ◽  
pp. 767-779 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher Cannon ◽  
Derek D. Rucker
Keyword(s):  
Impression Management ◽  
Social Cost ◽  
Social Consequences ◽  
Social Costs ◽  
Dark Side ◽  
Social Benefits ◽  
Luxury Consumption ◽  
Luxury Goods ◽  
Lay Beliefs ◽  
The Social

Extant research demonstrates that luxury goods are beneficial signals that bestow upon individuals social benefits that range from positive evaluations to compliance. In contrast to this perspective, the current work explores the idea that luxury goods can carry significant negative social costs for actors. Across four experiments, the social cost of luxury is examined. Although individuals who display luxury goods are ascribed higher status, they can pay a hefty tax when it comes to warmth. The social costs of luxury consumption appear to be driven by impression management concerns rather than envy. Consequently, whether the consumption of luxury goods yields positive or negative social consequences for an actor critically depends both on whether status or warmth is relevant for a decision and observers’ own lay beliefs about luxury consumption. Overall, this work reveals the more complex psychology of individuals’ interpretation and response to actors’ use of luxury goods.

PART 3: Society: Social Benefits of Transit: Case Study of Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority

1997 ◽  
Vol 1576 (1) ◽  
pp. 123-131
Author(s):  
Arthur C. Nelson
Keyword(s):  
Social Cost ◽  
Cost Savings ◽  
Social Costs ◽  
Policy Implications ◽  
Social Benefits ◽  
Rapid Transit ◽  
Vehicle Miles Traveled ◽  
Transit Systems ◽  
Total Social Cost

Advocates of transit suggest that there are several important social benefits of transit systems—savings in pollution, congestion, and general social costs. Estimates of such savings have been limited to general comparisons with the personal occupancy vehicle (POV) mode usually on a vehicle-miles-traveled basis. Those savings are simulated in the context of the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA). It is estimated that between 1980 and 1994, MARTA generated about $2.2 billion in total social cost savings by diverting POV riders to transit. Compared with the POV alternative, MARTA generates an average of about $107 million annually in savings to society even after considering society’s subsidies to transit. Shortcomings of the analysis and policy implications are discussed.

scholarly journals Labor Expenditures and Benefit-Cost Accounting in Times of Unemployment

2011 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 1-9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert H. Haveman ◽  
Scott Farrow
Keyword(s):  
Full Employment ◽  
Cost Accounting ◽  
Social Costs ◽  
Social Benefits ◽  
High Unemployment ◽  
Improve Efficiency ◽  
Public Projects ◽  
Labor Inputs ◽  
Benefit Cost ◽  
Benefits And Costs

We summarize procedures for assessing the benefits and costs of using labor inputs in public projects. Examples are provided to illustrate how information on labor inputs can be analyzed and presented such that, should the analyst choose, labor services generate elements of both benefit and cost in times of high unemployment; however, this is not generally correct in times of full employment. Our analysis is consistent with the overall goal of identifying those projects which are estimated to improve efficiency—those with social benefits in excess of social costs.

Evaluating Forest Industry Developments In Alberta Using Socioeconomic Impact Analysis

1982 ◽  
Vol 58 (6) ◽  
pp. 268-274
Author(s):  
M. R. Carroll ◽  
G. R. Milne
Keyword(s):  
Impact Analysis ◽  
Economic Impacts ◽  
Value Added ◽  
Social Costs ◽  
Social Benefits ◽  
Socioeconomic Impact ◽  
Forest Industry ◽  
Analysis Model ◽  
Development Alternatives ◽  
The Impact

This paper examines several major economic impacts of future forest industry expansion in north-central Alberta. Three mill types and two sites are selected. Therefore, six development alternatives are evaluated using a socioeconomic impact analysis model with a regional accounting stance. Economic impacts are classified either as social benefits or costs, and are estimated for both the construction and operational phases of each development option. Company expenditures within the region are linked to three benefits; increased regional employment, income and value added. Social costs are estimated for each option as the increased regional infrastructure costs associated with the expanded economic activity. The economic impact data are utilized by developing four ratios which directly compare social costs with selected social benefits. In this manner, the impact analysis model may offer an improvement to the method of examining forest resource development proposals in Alberta and elsewhere.

When Do We Confront? Perceptions of Costs and Benefits Predict Confronting Discrimination on Behalf of the Self and Others

2012 ◽  
Vol 36 (2) ◽  
pp. 210-226 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jessica J. Good ◽  
Corinne A. Moss-Racusin ◽  
Diana T. Sanchez
Keyword(s):  
Social Costs ◽  
The Self ◽  
Intervention Programs ◽  
Social Benefits ◽  
Perceived Benefits ◽  
Costs And Benefits ◽  
Path Modeling ◽  
Social Sanctions ◽  
Social Costs And Benefits ◽  
Past Experiences

Across two studies, we tested whether perceived social costs and benefits of confrontation would similarly predict confronting discrimination both when it was experienced and when it was observed as directed at others. Female undergraduate participants were asked to recall past experiences and observations of sexism, as well as their confronting behaviors. Path modeling in Study 1 ( N = 148) demonstrated that women were more likely to report confronting if they believed that the confrontation would make a difference (perceived benefits), or they were less concerned about social sanctions (perceived costs), and the prediction patterns were similar for both experienced and observed sexism. Study 2 ( N = 166) replicated the results of Study 1, as well as tested the moderating influence of gender identification. In situations of higher perceived social costs, women who were less strongly identified with their gender group were more responsive to the perceived benefits of the confrontation when deciding whether to confront on behalf of the self. The results of the two studies suggest that researchers should investigate methods for enhancing perceived social benefits and reducing perceived social costs when designing intervention programs aimed at increasing confrontation and decreasing the prevalence of discrimination.

Between Law and the Exception: The UN 1267 Ombudsperson as a Hybrid Model of Legal Expertise

2013 ◽  
Vol 26 (4) ◽  
pp. 833-854 ◽  
Author(s):  
GAVIN SULLIVAN ◽  
MARIEKE DE GOEDE
Keyword(s):  
War On Terror ◽  
Due Process ◽  
Fundamental Rights ◽  
Security Measures ◽  
Hybrid Procedures ◽  
Security Measure ◽  
Standards Of Proof ◽  
Legal Space ◽  
Evidentiary Standards ◽  
Legal Expertise

AbstractSecurity measures taken in the name of the ‘war on terror’ have frequently been understood to operate through a domain of exception, defined as an extra-legal space of intervention where normal rules of juridical protection and due process are suspended. Yet whilst most analyses of the exception are critically reliant on notions of legal threshold, they are largely dismissive of the potentially productive nature of legal contestation. This article inquires into the dynamic confrontation between law and exception in the context of the UN 1267 sanctions system, focusing on the Office of the Ombudsperson as an institutional experiment designed to remedy the fundamental rights deficiencies of the regime. Drawing on Agamben's analysis of the exception as a ‘hybrid space’ and Dyzenhaus's concept of the ‘legal grey hole’, our analysis of the Ombudsperson demonstrates the emergence of novel, hybrid procedures and evidentiary standards being deployed in the 1267 delisting process. First, we assess the Ombudsperson's logics of decision-making and argue that their appeals to fairness hinge on the production of a temporal chasm that legitimizes the deployment of intelligence material in listing cases. Second, we show that the Ombudsperson is in the process of carving out novel evidential standards that are more attentive to notions of inference and speculation than conventional standards of proof. These standards serve to fortify the use of sanctions as a pre-emptive security measure and do not, in principle, appear to exclude material that may be obtained by torture.

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