<p>Humans are natural politicians. We obsessively collect social information that is both observable (e.g., about third-party relationships) and unobservable (e.g., about others’ psychological states), and we strategically employ that information to manage our cooperative and competitive relationships. To what extent are these abilities unique to our species, and how did they evolve? The present dissertation seeks to contribute to these two questions. To do so, I take a comparative perspective, investigating social decision-making in humans’ closest living relatives, bonobos and chimpanzees. In Chapter 1, I review existing literature on theory of mind—or the ability to understand others’ psychological states—in these species. I also present a theoretical framework to guide further investigation of social cognition in bonobos and chimpanzees based on hypotheses about the proximate and ultimate origins of their species differences. In Chapter 2, I experimentally investigate differences in the prosocial behavior of bonobos and chimpanzees, revealing species-specific prosocial motivations that appear to be less flexible than those exhibited by humans. In Chapter 3, I explore through decision-making experiments bonobos’ ability to evaluate others based on their prosocial or antisocial behavior during third-party interactions. Bonobos do track the interactions of third-parties and evaluate actors based on these interactions. However, they do not exhibit the human preference for those who are prosocial towards others, instead consistently favoring an antisocial individual. The motivation to prefer those who demonstrate a prosocial disposition may be a unique feature of human psychology that contributes to our ultra-cooperative nature. In Chapter 4, I investigate the adaptive value of social cognition in wild primates. I show that the recruitment behavior of wild chimpanzees at Gombe National Park, Tanzania is consistent with the use of third-party knowledge, and that those who appear to use third-party knowledge receive immediate proximate benefits. They escape further aggression from their opponents. These findings directly support the social intelligence hypothesis that social cognition has evolved in response to the demands of competing with one’s own group-mates. Thus, the studies presented here help to better characterize the features of social decision-making that are unique to humans, and how these abilities evolved.</p> / Dissertation

Scholars have long debated the causes of late third party state joining in ongoing inter-state wars. This research has generally concluding that peace-time conditions, measured in terms of: third party capabilities; proximity to warring states; and inter-state alliances, are determining factors in the decision to join. However, these studies utilize theories derived from static pre-war measures of capabilities and motivation to explain late joining; indeed, the same measures that fail to predict participation at war's outset. Further, extant research has no explanation for why weak and non-proximate states every participate. Existing theory thus fails to provide a comprehensive explanation of joining behavior. This project contends that a resolution lies the interaction between pre-war conditions and intra-war events. Intra-war events that are allowed to vary on a per battle basis, including change in combat location and alliance entry and exit from combat, reveal new information about the war and its progress, thereby forcing third party states to recalculate their initial decision to abstain in relation to their pre-existing situation. Incorporation of intra-war processes helps to better explain decisions by third party states to join ongoing inter-state wars late in their development, and why states that frequently choose to abstain (e.g., weak states) ever choose to participate. This project is executed using a combination of ex post facto historical case studies, a theory of joining based on pre and intra-war environments, and large-N empirical analysis on all inter-state wars 1823-1988, conducted utilizing a novel collection of event-level data based on inter-state war battles.

The purpose of this study is to present an historical account of the Liberal Republican movement during the Reconstruction period. The Liberal movement was chosen for investigation because it was the first prominent third party movement in the post-Civil War years. The Liberal Republican movement was less important in shaping the policies of the two major policies than later third party movements, and, in fact, its long range results are almost impossible to trace. By gaining national prominence, however, and by accepting the Democrats in a coalition, the movement did provide a much needed stimulus to the Democratic party and caused the Republicans to reconsider their policies. It also provided an example to later movements that a third party could gain a great deal of support by advocating and working for general political reform.

Costly ‘altruistic’ punishment, where an individual intervenes to punish someone for behaving unfairly towards another or for violating a social norm, seems to be vital for large-scale cooperation. However, due to the costs involved, the evolution of this behaviour has remained a puzzle. The thesis initially describes why punishment is costly and explains why current theories do not sufficiently explain its evolution in the context of these costs. The thesis then offers a solution to this puzzle in the form of a dominance-based theory of the evolution of punishment. The theoretical underpinnings of this theory are discussed in reference to the previous literature, specifically how a dominant position provides sufficient heterogeneity in the cost and benefits of punishment to allow the behaviour to evolve at the individual-level of selection. Across 10 studies, the thesis empirically investigates the role dominance is theorised to play in costly punishment behaviour. First, the judgements observers make about punishers are investigated. It is demonstrated that punishers are perceived as dominant but, unlike individuals who engage in other aggressive behaviours, punishers are also well liked. While successful punishers are judged to be of the highest rank in a social group, the wider social judgements of punishers are dependent on the attempt at punishment only; successful and unsuccessful punishers are seen as equally dominant and well liked, suggesting that the willingness to attempt punishment can honestly signal both dominance and ones pro-sociality. However, additional studies show that observers a) perceive subordinate punishers will face a great deal of retaliation, b) show surprise when subordinates attempt to punish, and c) expect that dominants will punish and be successful, whereas subordinates are expected to never punish. Thus, while there are reputational benefits from punishment, only dominant individuals can actually access them. Second, the effect of a dominant position on punishment behaviour is investigated. Two studies sought to simulate the greater access to resources that dominants enjoy, and demonstrate that individuals who receive more resources from group-level cooperation will punish free-riding more frequently and more severely than those who receive less resources. Moreover, individuals who are in a stable dominant position, i.e. who can continually benefit to a greater degree than others from group cooperation, punish even more frequently and severely than when individuals receive additional resources alone. The results show that individuals only punish when it is cheap for them to do so and when investment in the public good (by punishing) can produce higher future returns for them. A dominant position provides the opportunity for both of these. Further studies demonstrate that individuals at the centre of a social network, an example of a ‘real life’ informal dominant position, are more sensitive to unfairness when making punishment decisions compared to those at the periphery of a group. However, when punishment decisions are public, and there are no economic incentives to punish, individuals behave in a similar manner regardless of social position. Taken together, the results of the empirical studies support the proposed dominance-theory of costly punishment. The theoretical implications of the dominance-theory of punishment are discussed in reference to both the proximate occurrence of punishment and its evolutionary origins in dominance and dominant behaviours. The practical implications of this theory will also be discussed, specifically in regard to when and why individuals will act in defence of the public good. While further investigation is necessary, a dominance-theory of punishment explains both results of this thesis and the findings of the wider literature, and as such provides a coherent and compelling explanation for the evolution of costly punishment and its associated emotions.

This diploma thesis deals with the latest trends in international commercial arbitration. Specifically, it focuses on transparency in international investment arbitration and third-party funding in international commercial arbitration. The objective of this thesis is to provide a comprehensive interpretation of a gradual development of these trends and to also give potential Czech readers an idea about present hot topics in international arbitration coming mostly from foreign sources of bibliography. The thesis is divided into three chapters. The first chapter dedicates itself to defining arbitration in the context of various dispute resolution methods and provides its basic comparison to international arbitration. At the same time, it offers an insight into the advantages and disadvantages of this type of dispute resolution and it discusses the principles of confidentiality and privacy of arbitration proceedings. The second chapter is divided into two main parts. The first one is focused on defining key terms of the specific area of international investment arbitration, including different regimes of treatment of international investments in order to protect them. It also includes a detailed description of the most important sources of international investment law and further discusses ways to...

The thesis contains a historical overview of the origin and development institute of protection of the rights of third parties in enforcement proceedings. In this section, the focus is on the period of the Roman Empire and then follows the development from the 19th century untiltoday. The fundamental part of the work focuses on the description of the current state of enforcement proceedings under the Act no. 120/2001 Coll. The Executors and Execution, his status in the legal order of the Czech Republic, the basic principles of management and everything in relation to the protection of the rights of third parties in enforcement proceedings. Distributes third party to various groups and describes their rights and obligations under the legislation. It focuses on the means of protection and defense. In conclusion provides an overview of the most important novels enforceable rights in relation.

Master of Agribusiness / Department of Agricultural Economics / Ted C. Schroeder / The beef cattle industry is one of the last industries in production agriculture that is not heavily integrated. Therefore each segment of the industry is constantly looking for opportunities to increase the value of their cattle. In recent years, one of those opportunities available to cow-calf producers was verification of certain production practices (i.e. Age and Source, Natural, and Non-Hormone Treated). The value flows from the consumer to the cow-calf producer. The packers need these verified cattle to fill export contracts therefore they are willing to pay a premium for these types of cattle. The objective of the thesis was to determine the value of a Health Verified Program (HPV) to feedlot operators. HPV is not required to export beef like other verified programs, but it does verify the procedures that a group of calves has received from the previous owner. Since the feedlot is a deciding factor of value for HPV, feedlot managers were asked from across the United States not only what value they place on HPV but other questions that could be beneficial to others involved in the beef cattle industry. Regression models were used along with a correlation analysis to determine value. There is value to a health verified program along with other procedures that are available to cow-calf producers. Individual producers need to determine which verifications and procedures are economical and efficient for their individual operations with all factors considered.

O estudo aborda as características de relacionamento entre empresas montadoras e operadores logísticos no Brasil, tendo em vista o caráter estratégico da prestação de serviços de logística integrada na indústria automobilística, setor que vem apresentando uma transformação muito grande em suas práticas e organização. O foco de análise é a logística de suprimento em montadoras de automóveis, não se abordando a distribuição de veículos prontos. O processo de globalização tem exigido a reestruturação das empresas para sua sobrevivência e desenvolvimento, a busca de vantagem competitiva, pela incorporação a seus produtos, da cadeia de valor dos clientes, e, no relacionamento interempresarial, novas formas de administração de suas cadeias de suprimentos. Os serviços de logística se mostram mais abrangentes, na estratégia e processo produtivos, numa nova caracterização da atuação de operadores logísticos. Na sua terceirização, tendência firme que se constatou, teoricamente, poderiam se apresentar alianças estratégicas entre empresas. As características de relacionamento nessa direção são abordadas nesta tese. O estudo foi conduzido com base em fontes secundárias e pela realização de entrevistas junto a montadoras e operadores logísticos. Metodologicamente, adotou-se o estudo de multicasos na identificação de arranjos institucionais da operação da logística por operadores especializados. Foi identificado um ambiente em transição, em que a terceirização é um fato, com operadores logísticos, assumindo, cada vez mais, parcelas importantes das atividades dos contratantes. No entanto, o relacionamento está longe de caracterizar verdadeiras alianças estratégicas, apresentando-se uma interação dinâmica e, muitas vezes contraditória, entre as empresas. A consciência mútua das interdependências, aceitação e entendimento de interesses individuais, a serem conciliados em alianças estratégicas, com o objetivo comum de melhor condição competitiva e compartilhamento justo de riscos, custos e recompensas, podem ser fundamentais na implantação de novas formas de produção na indústria e na adoção de operadores logísticos únicos. / This study analyses the relationship among automotive industries and third party logistics (3PL) providers in Brazil, regarding the strategic aspect of the integrated logistics service in that industry, which is showing a remarkable changing in its organization and production practices. This analysis focuses the inbound logistic in car assembling plants. The globalization process requires firms restructure to enable survival and development, the search for competitive advantages, reflecting in their products their clients value chain and, in the relationship among firms, innovative ways of supply chain management. Logistics services assume a broader scope in the production process and in the company strategy, reflecting their providing by 3PL firms in a new way. In this outsourcing, theoretically, strategic alliances among firms could take place. The relationships characteristics towards this direction are analyzed in this thesis. The study used secondary sources and interviews were conducted with automotive and logistic services providers executives. For identifying institutional arrangements in logistics services providing industry, the basic methodology adopted was multicase studies. This work identifies a transition environment with outsourcing as a fact and logistics providers increasingly assuming relevant portions of the automotive industry activities. Nevertheless, their relationships are far from actual strategic alliances, occurring a dynamic and, many times, contradictory interaction among the firms. Consciousness of mutual interdependence, agreement and understanding of individual interests to be conciliated for the achievement of the common objective of better competitive condition and fair risks, costs and rewards sharing are needed. This could be a sound basis for the new production ways and define solids fundamentals for the new trend of full logistic provider implementations, already seen in the industry.

A presente dissertação tem como escopo principal a análise da figura do terceiro, sua relação com o agente público para a caracterização do ato de improbidade e as cominações daí advindas, servindo como referência principal a Lei nº 8.429/92. O estudo parte da contextualização e definição de improbidade administrativa, visto que a norma é silente sobre a matéria, valendo-se o autor da doutrina e da racionalidade sistemática proposta pela citada lei para tal mister. Superada essa fase introdutória, os capítulos seguem praticamente a ordem cronológica disposta na regra, ou seja, são analisados: (i) os sujeitos passivo e ativo do ato de improbidade administrativa, dando-se especial atenção aos terceiros, (ii) os atos tipificados como ímprobos e suas especificidades, (iii) a obrigatoriedade do ressarcimento do dano ao patrimônio público e a perda dos valores percebidos em decorrência de enriquecimento ilícito, pontuadas, aqui, as medidas de indisponibilidade e seqüestro de bens, (iv) as sanções aplicáveis e (v) a prescrição das ações destinadas a levar a efeito as medidas repressivas. Com o objetivo de aprofundar o estudo e dar suporte aos temas intrínsecos de cada ponto acima delineado, foram abordados em capítulos próprios (i) a problemática da causalidade adequada, segregando a mera irregularidade da improbidade, (ii) o elemento subjetivo caracterizador do ato de improbidade administrativa e (iii) o litisconsórcio existente entre o agente público e o terceiro. Para todas as questões postas, além da doutrina e do texto legal, a jurisprudência serviu de importante ferramenta, sobretudo, nos temas mais intrincados. / The main objective of this dissertation is to analyze the relationship between public agent and a third party, especially when defining an act of improbity and its comminations, using law number 8.429/92 as main reference. This study initially sets a context and a definition of administrative improbity since the norm is silent on this matter. The author uses the above mentioned laws systematic rationality and doctrine. Going forward, the chapters practically follow the same order as in the rule, analyzing (i) passive and active roles in an act of administrative improbity, with emphasis on the third party, (ii) definition of improbity and its specifications, (iii) mandatory indemnity to public property and the loss of perceived value due to illicit enrichment, including measures of unavailability and sequestration of assets, (iv) applicable sanctions and (v) prescription of actions destined to enforce corrective measures. Aiming to deepen the understanding of the issues above, specific chapters were dedicated to (i) the problem of adequate causality, differentiating irregularity from improbity, (ii) subjective elements to administrative improbity and (iii) the union between public agent and a third party. For all these questions, jurisprudence was a valuable tool to complement legal texts and doctrine, above all in the most complicated subjects.

De meados da década de 80 até a atualidade as atividades básicas que fazem parte da logística deixaram de ser somente consolidadoras de uma relação de compra e venda, e passaram a ter uma importância estratégica bastante grande em busca de uma maior vantagem competitiva. Esta nova importância para a logística surgiu com a abertura econômica e o acirramento da competitividade mundial. Assim, empresas se especializaram em projetar, implantar e gerenciar as atividades de logística para outras empresas (Operadores Logísticos). A tomada de decisão entre realizar as atividades logísticas através de competência interna da empresa ou repassa-las aos operadores logísticos se tornou mais freqüente nos dias de hoje. O trabalho propõe um procedimento de auxílio a tomada de decisão para empresas em fase de análise da viabilidade da utilização de operadores logísticos. Por fim o procedimento é testado no campo com dados reais uma empresa de grande porte. / From the middle of 80\'s until today, the basic logistic activities are not only to consolidate buy and sales relationship, these activities became important in strategic planning, being important to reach new markets. This new logistic importance started with openning of Brazilian economy and with the increase in world competitiveness. For this reason, enterprises improvement the logistic activities techniques, as project, implementation an management and starting to execute these activities to another enterprises with do not have logistic as core competence, these enterprises are called Third Party Logistic Provider. The decision make between insourcing or outsourcing logistic activities became more frequently nowadays. This thesis propose a procedure to help enterprises in the viability analysis phase to use third party logistic provider in its supply chain. In the end the procedure is tested in a global company with real data.