This dissertation analyses the survival strategies that wealthy people in Mexico City have designed and implemented to protect themselves from kidnapping with special focus on household employment relationships. This particular crime has demonstrated a particular evolution in the last 20 years that deserves analysis. Once a political crime, it became an economic crime that at first only targeted wealthy individuals and then over time began targeting working class victims. Based on extensive qualitative fieldwork in Mexico City which included a year in the field, 78 interviews with employers, employees, kidnapping victims and members of the police forces and justice system and the creation of a news reports database this thesis presents a detailed history of the evolution of kidnapping in the period 1968-2009. This is followed by an in depth analysis of the strategies elites use to protect themselves from this crime. Special attention is focused on the hiring process of household employees, namely drivers, as evidence suggests that most kidnappings are organized or facilitated in some way by a close collaborator of the victim. The hiring process is approached as a problem of trust. Signaling theory is the main framework used for the solving of this problem, as well as some ideas found in transaction cost economics, namely vertical integration. The results point towards strategic behavior from the actors involved that seeks to minimize the risk of being kidnapped for the employer. Signaling helps us uncover the specific mechanisms by which employer establish their prospective employees’ trustworthiness. The use of informal social networks made up of strong ties is one of the most salient mechanisms used to guarantee honest employees and this, together with a composite set of properties is signaled throughout. This thesis contributes to the literature on crime in Latin America as well as to the sociological literature on signaling, a branch of analytical sociology.

Based upon two years of ethnographic fieldwork in London, England, which incorporated nearly 200 interviews with gang members, gang associates, and police officers, among others, this thesis addresses three questions presently unresolved in the street gangs literature: What is the business of gangs? How are gangs organised? And how do gangs recruit? With regard the business of gangs, this thesis illustrates how recreation, crime, enterprise, and extra-legal governance represent sequential stages in the evolutionary cycle of London’s street gangs. Gang member testimony emphasises how gangs typically begin life as neighbourhood-based peer groups, but also how, in response to external threats and financial commitments, gangs grow to incorporate street-level drugs distribution businesses that very much resemble the multi-level marketing structure of direct-sales companies. People join gangs to make money, achieve status, and obtain protection. Gangs engage in turf wars, acquire violent resources, and develop hierarchical structures in order to maintain provision of these desirable goods and services. Gang organisation, in turn, becomes a function of gang business. To better understand the nature and extent of gang organisation, this thesis moves on to discuss the presence of subgroups, hierarchy and leadership, pecuniary and non-pecuniary incentives, rules, responsibilities, and restrictions, and consequences for absconding within gangs. It further presents how, in order to convey reputation and achieve intimidation, gangs seek association with elements of popular culture that help promote their image. Finally, through the novel application of signalling theory to the gang recruitment process, this thesis demonstrates how gangs face a primary trust dilemma in their uncertainty over the quality of recruits. Given that none of the trust-warranting properties for gang membership can be readily discovered from observation, gangs look for observable signs correlated with these properties. Gangs face a secondary trust dilemma in their uncertainty over the reliability of signs because certain agents (e.g., police informants, rival gang members, and adventure-seekers) have incentives to mimic them. To overcome their informational asymmetry gangs thus screen for signs that are too costly for mimics to fake but affordable for the genuine article. The thesis concludes with a discussion of gang desistance and intervention in the context of escalating youth violence in London.

'Thieves-in-law' (vory-v-zakone in Russian or kanonieri qurdebi in Georgian) are career criminals belonging to a criminal fraternity that has existed at least since the 1930s in the Soviet Gulag. These actors still exist in one form or another in post-Soviet countries and have integrated into transnational organised criminal networks. For reasons yet to be explicated, thieves-in-law became exceptionally prevalent in the Soviet republic of Georgia. Here, by the 1990s, they formed a mafia network where this means criminal associations that attempt to monopolize protection in legal and illegal sectors of the economy. In 2005, Mikhail Saakashvili, the current president of Georgia claimed that 'in the past 15 years ... Georgia was not ruled by [former President] Shevardnadze, but by thieves-in-law.' Directly transferring anti-organised crime policy from Italy and America, Saakashvili's government made reform of the criminal justice system generally and an attack on the thieves-in-law specifically a cornerstone of the Rose Revolution. New legislation criminalises the possession of the status of ‘thief-in-law’ and of membership of criminal associations that constitute what is known as the ‘thieves’ world’ (qurduli samkaro). Along with a sweeping reform of the police and prisons and a ‘culture of lawfulness’ campaign, Georgian criminal justice reforms since 2003 may be seen as the first sustained anti-mafia policy to be implemented in a post-Soviet country. It also appears to have been very successful. The longevity and sudden decline of the thieves-in-law in Georgia provides the main questions that the following study addresses: How do we account for changes in the levels of resilience to state attack of actors carrying the elite criminal status of ‘thief-in-law’? How has this resilience been so effectively compromised since 2005? Utilising unique access to primary sources of data such as police files, court cases, archives and expert interviews this thesis studies the dynamics of changing mafia activities, recruitment practices, and structural forms of a criminal group as it relates to changes in the environment and, in particular, the recent anti-organised crime policy.

In this thesis, I report the results from the first randomized field experiments conducted in collaboration with party-affiliated candidates and campaigns in the United Kingdom. The papers presented as part of this thesis test both the limits and possibilities of campaign influence, in a partisan political environment. During election campaigns parties provide signals to voters, voluntarily or involuntarily imposing a structure, and thereby constraints, on individuals’ electoral decisions. By integrating insights about heuristic and social decision-making into the experimental campaign literature, I formulate testable hypotheses about the direct and indirect effects of party cues on campaign mobilization and persuasion. The first paper, The Heuristic Function of Party Affiliation in Voter Mobilization Campaigns, addresses how the provision of party cues, used during campaign phone calls, affects turnout among party supporters, opponents and unattached voters. The second paper on Household Partisan Composition and Voter Mobilization, explores the spillover effects from the previous experiment, testing whether campaign-induced mobilization between household members is conditioned by the partisan composition of a household, and the partisan intensity of a campaign message. Paper three investigates if candidates who are Reaching Across The Partisan Divide can win over supporters of rival parties. In the fourth paper, I test if Impersonal, But Noticeable methods of voter contact, such as door hangers and text messages, affect the turnout decisions of partisans and unattached voters. The final paper, The National Effects of Subnational Representation, highlights the importance of local party organization for the outcomes of national elections. The results of this thesis show the electoral consequences of direct and indirect interactions between campaigns and voters of different partisanship, and point to strategies that allow constituency campaigns to successfully navigate challenging partisan environments.

In today´s society large quantities of goods are shipped both domestic in Sweden as well as across borders. The increasing flow of goods require higher demands on the capacity of the infrastructure and at the same time think and act for a sustainable environment. The overall aim of the study is to highlight development areas for cargo freight by railway. The more specific goals of the study is to identify what enablers that is needed when to establish an intermodal terminal that will handle break-bulk cargo directly from railway, and what barriers that might be. To achieve the aim and goal a qualitative study was conducted with interviews as primal data. Studying the market prerequisites and conducting a competitive intelligence and a benchmark conducted the result. In the result, the interviews and the examined documents has ben compiled, these data has been the basis for the analysis and conclusion. Large parts of the collected data indicated that break bulk cargo handling in intermodal terminals is currently something that is not offered and it is not considered to be economically viable. However, the study also revealed that break bulk cargo handling is a desired service from the business sector as it is regarded as an environmentally friendly mode of transportation, something that the business sector appreciate. To cope with this kind of cargo handling and transportation more research is needed, better cooperation between the private- and the public sector as well as infrastructure changes. / Idag fraktas stora mängder gods både inom Sverige och över landsgränserna. Det ökande godsflödet ställer högre krav på infrastrukturens kapacitet samtidigt som det blir allt viktigare med transporter som är hållbara ur miljösynpunkt. Studiens övergripande syfte är att belysa utvecklingsmöjligheter av godstransport på järnväg. Mer specifika mål för studien är att identifiera vilka förutsättningar som bör finnas vid etablering av kombiterminal med styckegodshantering direkt från räls samt vilka barriärer det finns mot det. För att uppnå undersökningens syfte och mål genomfördes en kvalitativ studie med intervjuer som primärdata. Genom att studera marknadsförutsättningar, genomföra en omvärldsbevakning och en benchmark utformades resultatet. I resultatet har intervjuerna tillsammans med den granskade dokumentationen sammanställts, dessa data har sedan legat som grund till analysen och slutsatsen. Stora delar av insamlade data pekade mot att styckegodshantering på kombiterminal i dagens läge inte är något som erbjuds samt att det inte anses vara ekonomiskt hållbart att hantera styckegods på kombiterminal. Dock visade undersökningen att styckegodshantering på kombiterminal är en önskad tjänst från näringslivet då det anses vara ett miljövänligt transportsätt för gods, något som näringslivet värdesätter. För att klara av denna typ av hantering och transport krävs mer forskning, bättre samarbete mellan den privata och offentliga sektorn samt infrastrukturella förändringar.

Motivée par la conviction que la science économique et la sociologie doivent se rencontrer, notre recherche a deux objectifs. Elle questionne les filiations théoriques (ou migrations conceptuelles) entre la science économique et la sociologie d’une part ; et à analyser les caractéristiques de ces filiations théoriques d’autre part. Alors que s’accroit le dialogue entre la science économique et la sociologie depuis les années 1960, des filiations théoriques entre les deux disciplines sont-elles possibles ? Et quelles en sont les caractéristiques ? Notre recherche repose sur l’étude d’un cas, celui de la théorie de l’action. Nous abordons plus précisément différents objets de cette vaste théorie : la théorie du choix rationnel, le champ de l’économie des conventions et le concept d’encastrement. L’étude révèle que les filiations théoriques entre la science économique et la sociologie sont possibles, ne sont pas systématiques et peuvent être « imparfaites ». / Motivated by the conviction that economics and sociology must combine, our research has two goals. It questions theoretical filiations (or conceptual migrations) between economics and sociology on the one hand ; and analyzes the characteristics of these theoretical filiations on the other hand. Even though the dialogue between economics and sociology has been improving since the1960s, we question whether theoretical filiations between both disciplines are possible ; as well as the nature of the characteristics ? Our research is based on a case study, the theory of action. More specifically, we discuss different objects of this vast theory: the rational choice theory, the field of économie des conventions and the concept of embeddedness. The study reveals that theoretical filiations between economics and sociology are possible, unsystematic and can be considered as « imperfect ».

Esta tese realiza um estudo a respeito da confiança do investidor estrangeiro no Brasil, identificando teórica e empiricamente os aspectos jurídicos elementares à sua formação. A pesquisa tem como intuito analisar o papel do Direito tanto na geração quanto na proteção à confiança nutrida pelos investidores no País. Faz-se assim um percurso teórico que discute os pressupostos relacionados à racionalidade do homem econômico, sendo apresentadas algumas linhas críticas do paradigma de escolha racional. Dentre tais linhas, a Economia Comportamental é escolhida como opção metodológica do trabalho por fornecer uma visão alternativa para o estudo de tomada de decisão. Assim, com base no programa pesquisa Heuristics and Biases (H&B), fundado por Daniel Kahneman e Amos Tversky, avalia-se o processo de formação da confiança no Brasil. A revisão de literatura interdisciplinar busca fornecer alicerce teórico para o estudo empreendido, ao explorar a dificuldade e a abstração do conceito. A tese, no campo jurídico, (i) contrapõe as noções de confiança e boa-fé, (ii) discute como se dá a tutela da confiança pelo Direito brasileiro e (iii) destaca aspectos da regulação dos investimentos estrangeiros capazes de tutelar ou promover a confiança. A pesquisa empírica realizada ao final do trabalho aplica o H&B à análise do Direito, destacando as variáveis jurídicas consideradas essenciais à confiança do investidor no Brasil e analisando dissonâncias cognitivas a este respeito entre residentes e não residentes. / This thesis investigates foreign investors trust in Brazil, aiming at identifying theoretically and empirically its elementary aspects. It also intends to analyze the role played by Law at the creation and preservation of investors trust. From a theoretical standpoint, it discusses the rationality assumptions attributed to the economic man and reports alternative approaches for decision making other than rational choice. The work applies Behavioral Economics methodology, more specifically the Heuristics and Biases program, founded by Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky. The thesis also reviews interdisciplinary literature on trust, exploring the elusiveness of its concept. In addition, from a legal research perspective, it (i) compares the notions of trust and good-faith; (ii) discusses the legal grounds for trust protection under local law and (iii) points out regulatory mechanisms deemed capable of protecting or promoting trust. The empirical research presented at the end of the thesis illustrates how H&B may be applied to the analysis of Law, by assessing its role at promoting investors trust as well as assessing cognitive dissonances found among resident and non residents.

Introdução A partir da pergunta de partida Que fatores levaram um partido de origem socialista a optar por uma gerência terceirizada na Saúde? procurou-se analisar a parceria de um Órgão Público com o Terceiro Setor, para gerenciar um hospital regional, definindo-se, como objeto, o caso do Hospital Regional do Juruá, Acre, no início do século XXI. Objetivo Analisar as implicações do gerenciamento terceirizado de um hospital público e a política pública de saúde no Acre, no início do século XXI, sob governos hegemonizados pelo Partido dos Trabalhadores. Método estudo de metodologia qualitativa, utilizou um estudo de caso, onde foram realizadas revisão de bibliografia, análise documental e coleta de dados empíricos. A população de referência foi constituída por gestores, trabalhadores e usuários do SUS. Os dados foram obtidos por meio de pesquisa documental e de entrevista com roteiro. O conteúdo das entrevistas foi sistematizado com o auxílio da técnica do Discurso do Sujeito Coletivo. Posteriormente, foi triangulado com os dados oriundos da pesquisa documental. A análise final utilizou a Teoria da Escolha Racional. Resultados As transformações ocorridas no mundo desde a década de 1980 atingiram o PT na sua trajetória e o colocaram diante da escolha de maximizar votos para chegar ao poder, optando por ampliar suas alianças e fazendo uma virada ideológica pragmática. No Acre, a eleição da Frente Popular representou uma ruptura com o sistema político local inaugurando um projeto de Poder de longo prazo. A Saúde Pública foi bastante impactada, resultando num serviço de melhor qualidade, reconhecido pela população. Os governos agiram racionalmente para maximizar o apoio político, tomando decisões eficientemente planejadas para alcançar os fins econômicos e políticos desejados. Dentre essas escolhas, esteve a decisão de firmar parceria com o Terceiro Setor para gerenciar um hospital de referência regional. Conclusões A contradição inicial de um governo do Partido dos Trabalhadores em utilizar o modelo de terceirização para gerir um hospital público foi explicada através das escolhas racionais feitas pelos seus governos diante das alternativas colocadas, analisando-se as várias condições que dificultavam o funcionamento de um hospital numa localidade geograficamente isolada. Entretanto, a lógica da parceria com o Terceiro Setor foi naturalizada, favorecendo a acomodação dos interesses das partes envolvidas, e consolidando-se como permanente / Introduction From the starting question \"What factors led a party of socialist origin to opt for outsourced management in Health?\" sought to analyze the partnership of a Public Organ with the Third Sector, to manage a regional hospital, defining, as object, the case of the Hospital Regional do Juruá , Acre, at the beginning of the 21st century. Objective To analyze the implications of outsourced management of a public hospital and public health policy in Acre at the beginning of the 21st century under governments hegemonized by the Partido dos Trabalhadores. Method Study of qualitative methodology, used a case study, where they were carried out review of bibliography, documentary analysis and empirical data collection. The reference population was made up of SUS managers, workers and users. The data were obtained through documentary research and interview with script. The content of the interviews was systematized with the help of the Collective Subject Discourse technique. Subsequently, it was triangulated with data from documentary research. The final analysis used the Rational Choice Theory. Results The transformations that have occurred in the world since the 1980s have reached the PT in its trajectory and have placed it before the choice of maximizing votes to reach power, opting to broaden its alliances and making a pragmatic ideological turn. In Acre, the Popular Front election represented a break with the local political system inaugurating a long-term power project. Public Health was very impacted, resulting in a better quality service, recognized by the population. Governments acted rationally to maximize political support by making efficiently planned decisions to achieve the desired economic and political ends. Among these choices was the decision to establish a partnership with the Third Sector to manage a regional reference hospital. Conclusions The initial contradiction of a Partido dos Trabalhadores government in using the outsourcing model to run a public hospital was explained through the rational choices made by its governments in the face of the alternatives placed by analyzing the various conditions that hindered the operation of a hospital in a Locally geographically isolated. However, the logic of the partnership with the Third Sector was naturalized, favoring the accommodation of the interests of the parties involved, and consolidating as permanent

Reconstruímos a Teoria da Escolha Pública explicitando seus pressupostos sobre a natureza do objeto, do conhecimento e dos valores e sua lógica de operação, ou seja, seu método de solução de problemas. Mostramos com essa teoria que podemos entender a política como um processo de pacificação pela troca, em vez de um processo de pacificação pelo poder. Temos então novas respostas para as perguntas fundamentais da Ciência Política: Como é possível emergir a cooperação pacífica e legítima entre indivíduos? Qual é a maneira de fazer com que diferentes interesses individuais sejam reconciliados? A Teoria sugere que a política pode ser um jogo de soma positiva, evitando deseconomias constitucionais, guiando-se pelo princípio da unanimidade. Mostraremos então os desenhos constitucionais como ambientes de interação entre indivíduos e poderemos predizer que regras engendrarão cooperação ou competição. / We do a reconstruction of the Public Choice Theory explaining their assumptions about the nature of the object, knowledge and values and logic of their operation, i.e. its method of solution of problems. We show that with this theory we can understand the politics as a process of pacification through trade-offs, instead of a peace process by means of power. Proceeding in this way we obtain new answers to fundamental questions of Political Science: How can emerge a peaceful and legitimate cooperation among individuals? What is the way to conciliate different individual interests? The theory suggests that politics can be a positive-sum game, avoiding constitutional diseconomies, and must be guided by the principle of unanimity. Then we show how the constitutional designs as interaction environments for individuals and so can predict what rules make cooperation or competition.

Introdução A partir da pergunta de partida Que fatores levaram um partido de origem socialista a optar por uma gerência terceirizada na Saúde? procurou-se analisar a parceria de um Órgão Público com o Terceiro Setor, para gerenciar um hospital regional, definindo-se, como objeto, o caso do Hospital Regional do Juruá, Acre, no início do século XXI. Objetivo Analisar as implicações do gerenciamento terceirizado de um hospital público e a política pública de saúde no Acre, no início do século XXI, sob governos hegemonizados pelo Partido dos Trabalhadores. Método estudo de metodologia qualitativa, utilizou um estudo de caso, onde foram realizadas revisão de bibliografia, análise documental e coleta de dados empíricos. A população de referência foi constituída por gestores, trabalhadores e usuários do SUS. Os dados foram obtidos por meio de pesquisa documental e de entrevista com roteiro. O conteúdo das entrevistas foi sistematizado com o auxílio da técnica do Discurso do Sujeito Coletivo. Posteriormente, foi triangulado com os dados oriundos da pesquisa documental. A análise final utilizou a Teoria da Escolha Racional. Resultados As transformações ocorridas no mundo desde a década de 1980 atingiram o PT na sua trajetória e o colocaram diante da escolha de maximizar votos para chegar ao poder, optando por ampliar suas alianças e fazendo uma virada ideológica pragmática. No Acre, a eleição da Frente Popular representou uma ruptura com o sistema político local inaugurando um projeto de Poder de longo prazo. A Saúde Pública foi bastante impactada, resultando num serviço de melhor qualidade, reconhecido pela população. Os governos agiram racionalmente para maximizar o apoio político, tomando decisões eficientemente planejadas para alcançar os fins econômicos e políticos desejados. Dentre essas escolhas, esteve a decisão de firmar parceria com o Terceiro Setor para gerenciar um hospital de referência regional. Conclusões A contradição inicial de um governo do Partido dos Trabalhadores em utilizar o modelo de terceirização para gerir um hospital público foi explicada através das escolhas racionais feitas pelos seus governos diante das alternativas colocadas, analisando-se as várias condições que dificultavam o funcionamento de um hospital numa localidade geograficamente isolada. Entretanto, a lógica da parceria com o Terceiro Setor foi naturalizada, favorecendo a acomodação dos interesses das partes envolvidas, e consolidando-se como permanente / Introduction From the starting question \"What factors led a party of socialist origin to opt for outsourced management in Health?\" sought to analyze the partnership of a Public Organ with the Third Sector, to manage a regional hospital, defining, as object, the case of the Hospital Regional do Juruá , Acre, at the beginning of the 21st century. Objective To analyze the implications of outsourced management of a public hospital and public health policy in Acre at the beginning of the 21st century under governments hegemonized by the Partido dos Trabalhadores. Method Study of qualitative methodology, used a case study, where they were carried out review of bibliography, documentary analysis and empirical data collection. The reference population was made up of SUS managers, workers and users. The data were obtained through documentary research and interview with script. The content of the interviews was systematized with the help of the Collective Subject Discourse technique. Subsequently, it was triangulated with data from documentary research. The final analysis used the Rational Choice Theory. Results The transformations that have occurred in the world since the 1980s have reached the PT in its trajectory and have placed it before the choice of maximizing votes to reach power, opting to broaden its alliances and making a pragmatic ideological turn. In Acre, the Popular Front election represented a break with the local political system inaugurating a long-term power project. Public Health was very impacted, resulting in a better quality service, recognized by the population. Governments acted rationally to maximize political support by making efficiently planned decisions to achieve the desired economic and political ends. Among these choices was the decision to establish a partnership with the Third Sector to manage a regional reference hospital. Conclusions The initial contradiction of a Partido dos Trabalhadores government in using the outsourcing model to run a public hospital was explained through the rational choices made by its governments in the face of the alternatives placed by analyzing the various conditions that hindered the operation of a hospital in a Locally geographically isolated. However, the logic of the partnership with the Third Sector was naturalized, favoring the accommodation of the interests of the parties involved, and consolidating as permanent