Дисертації з теми "Levels of Causality and Responsibility"

In this thesis, I develop a general framework of how people attribute responsibility. In this framework, people's responsibility attributions are modelled in terms of counterfactuals defined over a causal representation of the situation. A person is predicted to be held responsible to the extent that their action made a difference to the outcome. Accordingly, when attributing responsibility we compare what actually happened with the outcome in a simulated counterfactual world in which the person's action had been different. However, a person can still be held responsible for an outcome even if their action made no difference in the actual situation. Responsibility attributions are sensitive to whether a person's action would have made a difference in similar counterfactual situations. Generally, responsibility decreases with the number of events that would have needed to change from the actual situation in order to generate a counterfactual situation in which the person's action would have been pivotal. In addition to how close a person was to being pivotal, responsibility attributions are influenced by how critical a person's action was perceived prior to the outcome. The predictions derived from this general framework are tested in a series of experiments that manipulate a person's criticality and pivotality by varying the causal structure of the situation and the person's mental states. The results show that responsibility between the members of a group diffuses according to the causal structure which determines how individual contributions combine to yield a joint outcome. Differences in the group members' mental states, such as their knowledge about the situation, their expectations about each other's performance as well as their intentions, also affect attributions. Finally, I demonstrate how this general framework can be extended to model attributions for domains in which people have rich, intuitive theories that go beyond what can be expressed with simple causal models.

The need for companies to achieve different outcomes in terms of their vision and goals has resulted in the rise of different drivers of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). Due to the differences in these desired outcomes and in some instances lack of sufficient knowledge, companies operate at different maturity levels of CSR. This research was based on the premise that identifying the relationship between CSR drivers and the CSR maturity levels would contribute towards helping to achieve the highest level of maturity while identifying how companies can better understand the concept of CSR as a whole. An exploratory study was undertaken between July 2015 to October 2015 and ten interviews were conducted with company directors, executives or senior managers responsible for sustainability / CSR. Research findings indicate strong, moderate and weak links between CSR drivers and CSR maturity level and these could be used to guide companies that need to move to next level of maturity. Factors such as education and mentoring of companies were identified to be essential for companies in order for them to be driven to a higher CSR maturity level. Matching allocation of funds between the drivers and the desired longterm achievements was found to be essential for achievement of the highest level of maturity level.
Mini-disseration (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2015.
nk2016
Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS)
MBA
Unrestricted

This essay argues that personal greenhouse gas emissions render the individual responsible forclimate-related harm to a great extent. To accomplish this, there will primarily be a focus onanswering the most important criticisms of individual climate responsibility. Issues concerningcausality are the first to be brought up, followed by issues concerning direct harm, simpledivision and unintentional contributions to harm, among other topics. The three main conclusionsdrawn in the discussion of these topics are that individual emissions can be considered partialcauses of climate harm, that most emission-heavy activity is immoral to some extent, and that theact of contributing to collective actions with foreseeable negative effects is morally questionable.These conclusions and their implications will be interpreted in a way that is compatible with thedefinition of responsibility that is used. Responsibility is considered to be a matter of degree forthe purposes of this essay. This will allow for a much wider range of relevant aspects to be takeninto consideration, when arguing for individual responsibility for climate harm

Understanding chemical reactions is crucial in learning chemistry at all educational levels. Nevertheless, research in science education has revealed that many students struggle to understand chemical processes. Improving teaching and learning about chemical reactions demands that we develop a clearer understanding of student reasoning in this area and of how this reasoning evolves with training in the discipline. Thus, we have carried out a qualitative study using semi-structured interviews as the main data collection tool to explore students reasoning about reaction mechanism and causality. The participants of this study included students at different levels of training in chemistry: general chemistry students (n=22), organic chemistry students (n=16), first year graduate students (n=13) and Ph.D. candidates (n=14). We identified major conceptual modes along critical dimensions of analysis, and illustrated common ways of reasoning using typical cases. Main findings indicate that although significant progress is observed in student reasoning in some areas, major conceptual difficulties seem to persist even at the more advanced educational levels. In addition, our findings suggest that students struggle to integrate important concepts when thinking about mechanism and causality in chemical reactions. The results of our study are relevant to chemistry educators interested in learning progressions, assessment, and conceptual development.

This thesis offers a reconstruction and analysis of a debate about responsibility, and causation initiated by Plato, and continued by the Stoics. The pivotal moment of the discussion is a problem I call ‘the greatest difficulty,’ found in Plato’s Parmenides. The debate, however, involves a complex network of arguments including subordinated or parallel discussions about ontology, method, ethics, and epistemology. Instead of isolating the main topic, I highlight the structure of the debate, and the interconnection between its parts, to show the complexity and sophistication of the argumentation in both Plato and the Stoics, and the depth of the Stoics’ engagement with Plato’s works. The motivation for doing this is to better understand many of the otherwise unexplained and odd starting points of the early Stoic philosophy. But since this requires a reconstruction of the dialectical background the Stoic texts assume, this means that the bulk of the thesis is devoted to discussing Plato. The hope is that by showing the structure of the debate in Plato’s dialogues, the connections in the Stoic fragments will show with more clarity. The thesis is divided into five chapters. The first two are dedicated to Plato’s discussion of causality and responsibility in Phaedo 95e8-105c7, and Republic 6, 506d7- 509c4. The third chapter discusses ‘the greatest difficulty’ in Parmenides 133a11-135c4 as an objection to the main arguments of the previous dialogues. In chapter four, I analyse how Plato revisits the greatest difficulty in Sophist 245e6-249d5. Finally, in chapter five, I examine surviving evidence from the early Stoics, to argue that they engaged with Plato’s ongoing debate via the Sophist, and that their views on these topics are a careful continuation of this debate.

A Work Project, presented as part of the requirements for the Award of a Masters Degree in Finance from the NOVA – School of Business and Economics
In times of economic downturn it is of utmost importance for companies to find alternative ways to enhance their value while disregarding all activities that have the potential to destroy value. Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) disclosures inform analysts and investors about companies‟ ethical accountability and engagement towards society, possibly contributing to the overall value of a company. This paper examines the rapport between different levels of CSR disclosure and stock market performance, analyzing a sample comprised by companies from Portugal, Spain and Italy, given that these are some of the countries most affected by the 2008 financial crisis. The period covered ranges from 2008 to 2012. CSR disclosure levels are measured through the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) guidelines. Results unveil that markets value a low CSR disclosure negatively, but do not find other levels of disclosure to add value, which implies that in times of crisis a low CSR disclosure may increase information asymmetry between a company and market participants. Furthermore, an analysis of the changes in GRI reveals the existence of a positive relation between stock market returns and upward changes in CSR disclosure levels.

Firms are facing challenges in managing corporate social responsibility (henceforth CSR) in their offshore outsourcing relationships and often fail to meet the ever increasing expectations from stakeholders. The main cause of these challenges stems from the complexity of offshore outsourcing. This thesis attempts to advance understandings of the mechanisms through which key relevant factors operate and interact to influence CSR performance outcomes. Three pieces of research taking different approaches embedded in multiple theories and levels of analysis are presented. Paper 1 advances the theoretical understanding of firm performance outcomes in cross-border inter-organisational relationships, mainly informed by institutional theory, resource dependence theory, and relational view. By specifically looking at CSR in offshore outsourcing relationships, the study enables prediction of CSR performance outcomes under institutional and inter-organisational differences. Paper 2 empirically studies a specific type of CSR failure, corporate social irresponsibility (henceforth CSiR) exposed by the media. Using an extensive amount of longitudinal data, the study demonstrates that CSR performance is an outcome of the interactions between the way firms are perceived by key stakeholders and attention to the subject matter. The paper contributes to the attention-based view, the theoretical underpinning of the paper, by separating out depth and breadth of attention conceptually and empirically. Paper 3 narrows down the sectoral context of the study to the retail industry considering its representativeness in the subject matter. Drawing on resource dependence theory, the study provides conceptual insights into a shifting paradigm from dyadic to trilateral governance. The findings of the three studies examining an identical phenomenon, but adopting different approaches and research tools, suggest CSR performance outcomes are formulated by internal and external contextual conditions and firms’ strategic choices. Overall the thesis contributes to our understanding of CSR in offshore outsourcing by unravelling the mechanisms through which these crucial factors work.

La ricerca ha ad oggetto lo studio della multiforme categoria del bene ambiente e della relativa tematica della responsabilità, con particolare riferimento ai sistemi di imputazione del danno e ai modelli di liability previsti sia dalla normativa che dalla giurisprudenza comunitaria e nazionale. Attraverso lo studio della genesi del valore ambiente sino alla sua attuale portata di bene giuridico autonomo e di bene comune, il lavoro si concentra sull’analisi della rilevanza teorica, dell’incidenza pratica e dei profili critici che la tutela ambientale presenta nell’ordinamento italiano e sovranazionale. Analizzata in chiave diacronica l’emersione della categoria giuridica ambiente, la ricerca indaga la disciplina della responsabilità per danno ambientale, analizzando preliminarmente le dinamiche evolutive dell’istituto sino alla profonda riforma del diritto ambientale introdotta nel nostro ordinamento dalla direttiva 2004/35/CE. Particolarmente attenzionati nell’ambito del presente lavoro sono le forme di tutela previste dall’ordinamento in relazione ai principi comunitari sanciti in materia di tutela dell’ambientale (il principio di precauzione, prevenzione, correzione dei danni alla fonte e il principio «chi inquina paga») ed il nesso causale previsto per ciascuna di queste, mettendo in luce sia gli approdi che dottrina e giurisprudenza hanno raggiunto in relazione alle singole questioni che i punti ancora in ombra ovvero in attesa di consolidamento o evoluzione. Muovendo dalla declinazione del principio «chi inquina paga» nella responsabilità ambientale si è evidenziato come il nesso causale risulti essere imprescindibile qualunque sia il modello di responsabilità prescelto, sia esso di tipo oggettivo che fondato sulla “colpa”. L’osservazione condotta in concreto sulla frequenza dei fenomeni di inquinamento diffuso e storico, imputabili ad attività esercitate in forma organizzata e non a singoli individui, ha giustificato l’indagine sulla possibilità od opportunità di introdurre in via legislativa una disciplina che prescinda in toto dalla sussistenza del nesso causale (prevedendo una “responsabilità da posizione”) ovvero che sancisca l’inversione dell’onere della prova del nesso a carico del presunto responsabile, onere che altrimenti graverebbe – secondo i principi generali – a carico di chi afferma la responsabilità, con ovvie conseguenze processuali. Sono stati altresì approfonditi i profili processuali collegati alla tutela dell’ambiente (legittimazione ad agire e giurisdizione) e sanzionatori (sanzioni amministrative). Infine, il lavoro ha posto in rilievo gli aspetti che, in relazione al danno ambientale, sono tutt’ora in ombra nella normativa comunitaria e nazionale, indicando i possibili spazi di intervento legislativo o giurisprudenziale alla luce dei principi di divieto di gold planting e di non arretramento della tutela ambientale.
The present research refers to the study of the multiform category of the environment and the related issue of accountability, focusing on the imputation systems regarding the damage and the ‘liability’ models provided by Community legislation and national jurisprudence. Therfore, through the study from the genesis of the enviroment’s value to its present assessment of legal and common good, the present work analyzes the theoretical relevance, the practical impact and the critical profiles that environmental protection presents in both Italian and International legal systems. After having analyzed the emergence of the environment as legal category, the research investigates the regulation of liability for the environmental damage, preliminarily analyzing the dynamic evolutions of the institute until the profound reform of environmental law introduced into our law system by the directive 2004/35/CE. In the present work, a particular attention is addressed to the forms of protection conferred by the law system regarding the communitary principles ratified on the subject of environmental protection (the principle of precaution, prevention, damage rectified at the source and the principle 'the polluter pays') and the causal link provided for each of these, highlighting both the results that doctrine and jurisprudence have reached regarding each individual questions, and all the grey zones waiting for consolidation or evolution. Moving towards the declination of 'the polluter pays' principle in environmental responsibility, it has been shown that the definition of the causal link is crucial regardless of the chosen responsibility model, whether it is objective or based on the 'guilt'. The observation conducted specifically on the frequency of diffuse and historical pollution phenomena, attributable to activities carried out by organized groups and not by single individuals, justified the possibility or the opportunity to introduce in the law system a discipline which is not taking into account the existence of a causal link (providing a "position of responsibility"), in other terms, changing the paradigm by the inversion of the obligation of the proof regarding the causal link totally upon the supposed perpetrator/responsible; such obligation - according to the general principles - would have been otherwise charged to those professing the responsibility, with obvious procedural consequences. Moreover, the procedural issues related to the environmental protection have also been analyzed (legal standing and jurisdiction) and penalties (administrative fines). Finally, the present research highlighted the aspects that, regarding the environmental damage, are still in a shadow in the European Community and Italian law systems, indicating possible areas of legislative action or jurisprudenctial on the of the principles of prohibition of gold planting and promotion of the environmental protection.

The purposes of this study were to describe and compare California elementary school principals' and assistant principals' perceptions of the assistant principals' levels of responsibility for selected duties and activities and their perceptions of the importance of these duties and activities, and to describe selected personal and professional characteristics of assistant principals. Questionnaires for principals and assistant principals were developed and distributed to administrators in 119 randomly selected California elementary schools in which there were full time assistant principals and a K-5 or K-6 grade configuration. Over 59 percent of the possible paired responses were returned, and several non-paired responses were received from both assistant principals and principals. Findings were based on analysis of data resulting from application of appropriate statistical procedures, including deviations, and paired t-tests. Assistant principals generally believed they had more responsibility for administrative activities than principals believed they had. Differences between their perceptions were significant (p $\leq$.01) for five activities. Assistant principals perceived the majority of the selected activities to be more important to the school's educational program than principals did. Administering student discipline, counseling pupils, and evaluating teachers were the three activities perceived by both principals and assistant principals as those for which the assistant principal had the most responsibility, those most important to the school's educational program, and those on which the assistant principal spent the most time. The majority of assistant principals respondents were female, 45 years of age or younger, and desirous of becoming principals. Most respondents indicated that the duties of the assistant principal were determined by the principal or jointly by the principal and the assistant principal. Three recommendations were proposed. Assistant principals should be given more responsibility for activities perceived as important by principals and assistant principals. School boards should adopt policies to clarify the function of the assistant principal. Assistant principals should be given an increasing amount of responsibility for activities as they spend more time in the position.

I position my doctoral thesis in the broad field of organization science; it stands within the domains of business ethics, sustainability, and corporate responsibility. I appreciate the emergence of a globalized world whereby countries, people, and businesses are connected to each other through economic, political, social, and technological ties. The globalized economies and societies pose complex and multifaceted challenges. To cope with these challenges, businesses will have to assume newer responsibilities and roles. These responsibilities originate from the evolving societal expectations about businesses and their duties. Hence social discourse on business responsibility should highlight the emerging societal expectations. Further, within businesses, the responsibility discourse should give an insight to the reaction of businesses to these emerging responsibilities. And, finally these discourses should affect the consumers' cognitive development, and consequently impact their attitudes and behaviors. The challenges of sustainability and corporate responsibility are complex, conflicting and at times contradictory. It is imperative to bank on our ability to communicate, to discuss and to co-create universally applicable rules. Therefore I adopt a discursive approach in my thesis, and use Habermas' theory of communicative action (1981) as an overarching theoretical framework. The thesis contains three research studies, each focusing on one aspect of responsibility, thus covering the three levels of responsibility discourse: societal, corporate and individual. The first article presents a thematic analysis of the business responsibility discourse in popular CSR and sustainability books. Content analyses is used to elicit the apparent and latent responsibility themes of the sample books. The second article focuses on the patterns of social disclosure among large French corporations. The responsibility discourse is analyzed through content analyses of the annual reports of CAC-40 companies. The last article is aimed to comprehend the adoption of ethically conscious behaviors by the consumers. The article first presents a quantitative model of consumers' ethical decision making and then validates it empirically by structural equation modeling.

This dissertation defends the so-called 'agency-approach' to causation, which attempts to ground the causal relation in the cause's role of being a means to bring about its effect. The defence is confined to a conceptual interpretation of this theory, pertaining to the concept of causation as it appears in a causal judgement. However, causal judgements are not seen as limited to specific domains, and they are not exclusively attributed to human agents alone. As a methodological framework to describe the different perspectives of causal judgments, a method taken from the philosophy of information is made use of - the so-called 'method of abstraction'. According to this method, levels of abstraction are devised for the subjective perspective of the acting agent, for the agent as observer during the observation of other agents' actions, and for the agent that judges efficient causation. As a further piece of propaedeutic work, a class of similar (yet not agency-centred) approaches to causation is considered, and their modelling paradigms - Bayesian networks and interventions objectively construed - will be criticised. The dissertation then proceeds to the defence of the agency-approach, the first part of which is a defence against the objection of conceptual circularity, which holds that agency analyses causation in causal terms. While the circularity-objection is rebutted, I rely at that stage on a set of subjective concepts, i.e. concepts that are eligible to the description of the agent's own experience while performing actions. In order to give a further, positive corroboration of the agency-approach, an investigation into the natural origins and constraints of the concept of agency is made in the central chapter six of the dissertation. The thermodynamic account developed in that part affords a third-person perspective on actions, which has as its core element a cybernetic feedback cycle. At that point, the stage is set to analyse the relation between the first- and the third-person perspectives on actions previously assumed. A dual-aspect interpretation of the cybernetic-thermodynamic picture developed in chapter six will be directly applied to the levels of abstraction proposed earlier. The level of abstraction that underpins judgments of efficient causation, the kind of causation seemingly devoid of agency, will appear as a derived scheme produced by and dependent on the concept of agency. This account of efficient causation, the 'objectification of agency', affords the rebuttal of a second objection against the agency-approach, which claims that the approach is inappropriately anthropomorphic. The dissertation concludes with an account of single-case, or token level, causation, and with an examination of the impact of the causal concept on the validity of causal models.

Les principaux facteurs de l'insécurité routière sont connus, et l'enjeu réside aujourd'hui dans la mesure de l'effet d'un facteur, et la hiérarchisation de l'ensemble des causes intervenant dans la survenue de l'accident. Toutefois, les données disponibles concernent généralement que des accidentés. En l'absence de non-accidentés, l'épidémiologiste du risque routier se heurte à une sélection extrême. Une des solutions classiques est d'utiliser des analyses en responsabilité, et de mesurer l'effet causal d'un facteur sur le risque d'être responsable d'un accident. Néanmoins, la validité des analyses en responsabilité repose sur l'hypothèse, discutable, que les non-responsables sont représentatifs des circulants. L'objectif de cette thèse est donc de déterminer si les données disponibles d'accidentés permettent de fournir, via les analyses en responsabilité, des estimations des effets causaux sans biais, et notamment sans un biais de sélection résiduel. Nous montrons dans cette thèse que, dès lors que l'inclusion dépend de la gravité de l'accident, et que le facteur étudié a un impact sur la vitesse, il est impossible d'estimer l'effet causal du facteur sur le risque d'être responsable de l'accident grave sans un biais de sélection résiduel. Ce résultat est tout d'abord démontré de manière formelle, grâce à l'utilisation des modèles causaux structuraux. Ces modèles sont fondés sur une structure graphique, le DAG, qui représente les différentes relations entre les variables. Ce DAG permet la description des variables réellement observées, mais également des variables contrefactuelles, variables observables dans un monde contrefactuel où l'on aurait fixé l'exposition à une certaine valeur. L'effet causal étant défini à partir de ces variables contrefactuelles partiellement observées, c'est la structure du DAG qui permet de déterminer si l'effet causal peut être estimé en fonction des variables observées. Or, la structure du DAG conduisant à la survenue d'un accident grave ne permet pas d'exprimer l'effet causal du facteur étudié sur la responsabilité de l'accident grave en fonction des distributions observées sur les accidentés graves. Conditionner les estimations sur les accidentés graves correspond à ajuster sur une variable du DAG appelée « collider », et ainsi à introduire un biais dit de collision. En générant un modèle relativement simple, nous donnons à nos résultats théoriques une illustration numérique. En effet, lorsque les données ne dépendent pas de la gravité de l'accident, ou que le facteur étudié n'a pas d'effet sur la vitesse, la mesure estimable à partir des analyses en responsabilité est une mesure sans biais de l'effet causal, sous certaines hypothèses de prévalences faibles. Lorsque l'inclusion dépend de la gravité de l'accident, il existe un biais et ce biais induit par les analyses en responsabilité est d'autant plus grand que l'intensité de la relation entre le facteur et la vitesse, et celle entre la vitesse et l'accident est grand. Les schémas d'étude présentés permettent d'approcher des situations où le facteur étudié serait l'alcool ou le cannabis. Dans le cas de l'alcool, il apparait que sous le modèle simple considéré, la mesure d'association estimable serait une sous-estimation de l'effet causal. En revanche, dans le cas du cannabis, la mesure d'association correspondrait à une sur-estimation de l'effet causal. D'autre part, les outils de l'inférence causale nous ont permis de fournir une description formelle de la validité externe et interne, ainsi qu'une description formelle de la mesure d'association estimable via les analyses en responsabilité. Cette question de la validité interne d'une mesure se pose dans d'autres champs d'application que la sécurité routière. Elle se pose notamment dans le cas du paradoxe de l'obésité [etc...]
Many factors associated with the risk and severity of road accidents are now widely considered as causal : alcohol, speed, usage of a mobile phone... Therefore, questions asked by decision-makers now mostly concern the magnitude of their causal effects, as well as the burden of deaths or victims attributable to these various causes of accident. One particularity of road safety epidemiology is that available data generally describe drivers and vehicles involved in road accidents only, or even severe road accidents only. This extreme selection precludes the estimation of causal effects. To circumvent this absence of « control » population of non-crash involved drivers, it is common to use responsibility analysis and to assess the causal effect of a given factor on the risk of being responsible for an accident among involved drivers. The underlying assumption is that non-responsible drivers represent a random sample of the general driving population that was « selected » to crash by circumstances beyond their control and therefore have the same risk factor profile as other drivers on the road at the same time. However, this randomness assumption is questionable. The objective of this thesis is to determine whether available data in road safety allow us to assess causal effects on responsibility without a residual selection bias. We show that a good approximation of causal effect of a given factor on the risk of being responsible is possible only if the inclusion into the dataset does not depend on the severity of the accident, or if the given factor has no effect on speed. This result is shown by using the Structural Causal Model (SCM) framework. The SCM framework is based on a causal graph : the DAG (directed acyclic graph), which represents the relationships among variables. The DAG allows the description of what we observe in the actual world, but also what we would have observed in counterfactual worlds, if we could have intervened and forced the exposure to be set to a given level. Causal effects are then defined by using counterfactual variables, and it is the DAG’s structure which determines whether causal effects are identifiable, or recoverable, and estimable from the distribution of observed variables. However, the assumptions embedded in the DAG which describes the occurence of a severe accident does not ensure that a causal odds ratios is expressible in terms of the observable distribution. Conditioning the estimations on involved drivers in a severe crash correspond to conditioning on a variable in the DAG called « collider », and to create a « collider bias ». We present numerical results to illustrate our theoretical arguments and the magnitude of the bias between the estimable association measure and some causal effects. Under the simple generative model considered, we show that, when the inclusion depends on the severity of the accident, the bias between the estimable association measure and causal effect is larger than the relation between the exposure and speed, or speed and the occurrence of a severe accident is strong. Moreover, the presented designs allow us to describe some situations where the exposure could be alcohol or cannabis intoxication. In the case of alcohol, where alcohol and speed are positively correlated, the estimable associational effect underestimates the causal effect. In the case of cannabis, where cannabis and speed are negatively correlated, the estimable associational effect overestimates the causal effect. On the other hand, we provide a formal definition of internal and external validity, and a counterfactual interpretation of the estimable quantity in the presence of selection bias, when causal effects are not recoverable. This formal interpretation of the estimable quantity in the presence of selection bias is not only useful in the context of responsibility analyses. It is for instance useful to explain the obesity paradox

Många anhöriga till officerare som tjänstgjort i internationell insats har upplevt negativa fysiska och psykiska besvär under och efter insatsen. Men hur påverkar detta officeren när denne ska återgå till det ordinarie arbetet eller åka på nästa insats, sett från en psykosocial arbetsmiljöaspekt? Och förändras detta med anledning av de nya lagstadgade kraven om tjänstgö-ringsskyldighet och uppföljningsansvar? Detta handlar en del av studien om. Den andra delen av studien beskriver hur ett framtida anhörigstöd kan utformas, kopplat till de nya kraven. Studien syftar till att ge en ökad förståelse till att officer och anhöriga tillsammans utgör en ge-mensam social ordning och att ge underlag till fortsatt forskning. Vidare syftar studien till att bidra med konkreta förslag till anhörigstöd till myndigheter och organisationer som idag arbetar med det. Studiens empiri erhålls genom djupintervjuer med sex långvariga partner till officerare som kom-pletteras med textempiri. Studien påvisar att det finns tendens till ett meningssamband mellan anhörigas upplevda välbefin-nande och officerens psykosociala arbetsmiljö. Studien föreslår vidare att det framtida anhörigstö-det utformas utifrån principerna erfarenhetsbaserat, flexibelt och tillgängligt, där en begränsad del föreslås bli obligatoriskt.
A lot of relatives to officers who has served in international operations have been af-fected by negative physical and psychological impacts. But in what way has this affected the officer when it’s time to readjust to the normal work or when preparing the next mission from a psychosocial working environment point-of-view? And does this change in accordance with new Swedish laws of official duty and rehabilitation responsibility? That´s the first issue in the essay. The other issue covers how the future Swedish relative support can be designed. The essay has shown a tendency to causality between the relatives’ perception of well-being and the officer´s psychosocial working environment. Further, the essay proposes that future relative support shall be based on the principles previous experienced, flexibility and availability with a limited mandatory part.

Thesis (Ph.D.); Submitted to Iowa State Univ., Ames, IA (US); 12 Dec 2003.
Published through the Information Bridge: DOE Scientific and Technical Information. "IS-T 2048" Stavroula Foteinopoulou. 12/12/2003. Report is also available in paper and microfiche from NTIS.

La presente investigación tiene como objetivo el análisis al controversial tema de las consideraciones tributarias de los gastos por responsabilidad social empresarial que realizan las empresas mineras en el Perú, buscando la aprobación de la deducibilidad de estos desembolsos para efectos del Impuesto a la Renta, con la finalidad de evitar conflictos sociales y mantener su fuente de productiva. Asimismo, se busca establecer una solución jurídica para conseguir el beneficio conjunto y sostenible de todos los actores involucrados. La metodología empleada en este trabajo, contempla la investigación doctrinaria de diversos autores, para definir un concepto integrado de Responsabilidad social, la revisión de fuentes oficiales del Estado sobre la situación económica de la industria minera para observar la urgencia de implementar una solución eficiente al problema, y el análisis normativo y jurisprudencial a nivel administrativo como judicial para observar las consideraciones institucionales respecto a los mencionados desembolsos realizado por las empresas extractivas en el Perú. Las principales conclusiones fueron las siguientes: primero, la Responsabilidad social empresarial supera el compromiso altruista por el bienestar social y ambiental, siendo un importante instrumento de inversión para mantener la fuente productora y así asegurar el desarrollo de la industria; segundo, existe una clara deficiencia normativa que regule la deducción de los gastos por responsabilidad social, provocando una incertidumbre sobre el tratamiento tributario correspondiente; y tercero, en la exigua jurisprudencia vigente se ha reconocido que existe vinculación entre estos gastos y el mantenimiento de la fuente productora, configurándose así la causalidad de estos gastos considerándose deducibles para efectos tributarios, pues previenen, atenúan y eliminan potenciales escenarios negativos en el entorno social que atentarían contra el mantenimiento de la fuente productiva asegurando los objetivo económicos de la empresa. The objective of the present investigation is to analyze the controversial issue of tax considerations of the expenses for corporate social responsibility carried out by mining companies in Peru, seeking the approval of the deductibility of these disbursements for Income Tax purposes, with the Purpose of avoiding social conflicts and maintaining their productive source. It also seeks to establish a legal solution to achieve the joint and sustainable benefit of all actors involved. The methodology used in this work, includes the doctrinal research of various authors, to define an integrated concept of social responsibility, the review of official sources of the State on the economic situation of the mining industry to observe the urgency of implementing an efficient solution to the problem , And normative and jurisprudential analysis at the administrative as well as judicial level to observe the institutional considerations regarding the aforementioned disbursements made by extractive companies in Peru. The main conclusions were: first, Corporate Social Responsibility exceeds the altruistic commitment to social and environmental welfare, being an important investment instrument to maintain the production source and thus ensure the development of the industry; Second, there is a clear regulatory deficiency that regulates the deduction of social responsibility expenses, causing uncertainty about the corresponding tax treatment; And third, in the limited jurisprudence in force, it has been recognized that there is a link between these expenses and the maintenance of the source of production, thus configuring the causality of these expenses considered as deductible for tax purposes, since they prevent, attenuate and eliminate potential negative scenarios in the environment Which would jeopardize the maintenance of the productive source, ensuring the economic objectives of the company.

La responsabilité en droit international met à la charge de l’auteur d’un fait internationalement illicite l’obligation de réparer, et par conséquent le sujet lésé – celui qui demande réparation – occupe souvent une place secondaire, cantonné au rôle de « victime » qui a droit à réparation. Pourtant, dans la pratique, le comportement du sujet lésé occupe une place bien plus importante laissant supposer qu’il est loin de constituer un fait anodin ; invoqué comme moyen de défense tantôt par l’auteur d’un fait internationalement illicite pour échapper à l’engagement de sa responsabilité ou à ses conséquences, tantôt par le sujet lésé pour justifier le comportement qu’il a adopté en réaction au fait prétendument illicite, il constitue un argument essentiel de tout contentieux. Susceptible de produire des effets tant sur la procédure que sur le fond, le comportement du sujet lésé, quel qu’il soit, semble être toujours un fait pertinent lorsqu’il s’agit d’apprécier et de déterminer la responsabilité d’un sujet de droit international. Cette prise en compte traduirait-elle l’existence de règles spécifiques applicables au sujet lésé en raison de cette qualité et manifesterait-elle par là même l’existence d’une condition ou d’un statut du sujet lésé ? Il n’en est rien : si le comportement du sujet lésé est toujours pris en compte, c’est précisément parce qu’il constitue un fait ordinaire, analysé et qualifié comme n’importe quel fait sur le fondement d’une règle générale. En ce sens sa qualité de « sujet lésé » est indifférente. Ainsi, et de la même façon qu’il n’existe pas de statut du « fautif » en droit international, il n’existe pas de condition ou de statut du sujet lésé
Responsibility in International Law upholds that the obligation to make reparation lies with the perpetrator of an internationally wrongful act, and consequently, the injured subject - the person seeking reparation - is often relegated to an afterthought, reduced to the position of "a victim" entitled to full reparation. Yet, in practice, the conduct of the injured subject is significant and thus brings a critical discussion, suggesting that it is far from being a trivial matter brought in defense either by the perpetrator of an internationally wrongful act to escape responsibility and consequences, or by the injured subject to justify his conduct in response to the alleged wrongful act. The conduct of the injured subject is inclined to produce an effect on the preliminary phase and the merits, and appears to be always pertinent when assessing and determining responsibility in International Law cases. Does this allow to speculate on the existence of specific rules applicable to the injured subject because of his claim and thereby hints at the existence of a condition or statute of the injured subject ? This is not so. If the conduct of the injured subject is always taken into account, it is precisely because it constitutes an ordinary fact, analysed and qualified as any fact on the basis of a general rule. In this sense, the condition of "injured subject" is unremarkable/indifferent. Thus, and in the same way that there is no statute of "wrongdoer" in international law, there is no condition or statute of “injured subject”

Дисертація на здобуття наукового ступеня доктора економічних наук за спеціальністю 08.00.01 – економічна теорія та історія економічної думки. – Державний ВНЗ «Національний гірничий університет», Дніпропетровськ, 2012.
Диссертация на соискание ученой ступени доктора экономических наук по специальности 08.00.01 – экономическая теория и история экономической мысли. – Государственное ВУЗ «Национальный горный университет», Днепропетровск, 2012
Thesis for obtaining degree of Doctor of Economic Sciences on specialty 08.00.01 – Economics and history of economic thought. – State Higher Educational Institution National Mining University, Dnipropetrovs’k, 2012
У дисертаційній роботі на основі застосування системного підходу розроблена авторська концепція соціальної відповідальності суб’єктів підприємницької діяльності, де обґрунтовано нові методологічні підходи і теоретичні положення щодо формування та розвитку соціальної відповідальності суб’єктів підприємництва в сучасних умовах. Зокрема, соціальну відповідальність суб’єктів підприємницької діяльності запропоновано розглядати як багатоаспектне явище. Вивчено передумови формування соціально відповідальної поведінки, виявлено на цій основі ціннісні чинники та визначено їх роль у формуванні соціальної відповідальності суб’єктів підприємницької діяльності. Доведено значення взаємодії держави та підприємництва у розвитку соціальної відповідальності. Обґрунтовано значення соціальної звітності для оцінювання та регулювання соціально відповідальної діяльності сучасних бізнес-організацій. Удосконалено класифікацію рівнів соціальної відповідальності суб’єктів підприємництва. Обґрунтовано основні тенденції розвитку соціально відповідальної поведінки суб’єктів підприємницької діяльності в Україні. Виявлено чинники, які сприяють формуванню соціально відповідальної поведінки українських підприємців та які стримують цей процес. Окреслено систему завдань основних учасників процесу реалізації соціальної відповідальності суб’єктів підприємництва в Україні. Здійснено оцінку соціально відповідальної поведінки в контексті основних параметрів базового рівня відповідальності.
В диссертационной работе на основе использования системного подхода разработана авторская концепция социальной ответственности субъектов предпринимательской деятельности, где обоснованы новые методологические подходы и теоретические положения относительно формирования и развития социальной ответственности субъектов предпринимательства в современных условиях. Объектом исследования выступают процессы становления и развития социальной ответственности субъектов предпринимательской деятельности. Предметом исследования является совокупность теоретико-методологических положений и практических подходов к формированию социально ответственного поведения субъектов предпринимательской деятельности. Автором исследованы теоретико-методологические основы предпринима-тельства и уточнены на этой основе сущность и содержание его социальных функций. Проанализированы концептуальные подходы к проблеме социальной ответственности субъектов предпринимательской деятельности, что дало возможность предложить авторское определение данной категории. Изучены предпосылки формирования социально ответственного поведения, в частности, выявлены ценностные факторы и определена их роль в формировании социальной ответственности субъектов предпринимательской деятельности. Исследован генезис социальной ответственности субъектов предпринимательской деятельности и определены этапы ее становления; обоснованы мотивы и выявлены преимущества социально ответственного поведения субъектов предпринимательства; доказано значение взаимодействия государства и предпринимательства в развитии социальной ответственности. Характеристика форм проявления социально ответственной деятельности субъектов предпринимательства на корпоративном, региональном и общественном уровнях позволила автору выделить современные модели социальной ответственности и расширить классификацию ее уровней. Исследованы особенности оценки уровня социальной ответственности субъектов предпринимательской деятельности, ее инструменты и способы. Обосновано значение социальной (нефинансовой) отчетности для оценки и регулирования социально ответственной деятельности современных бизнес-организаций. Исследованы особенности корпоративного, государственного и международного регулирования социально ответственного поведения субъектов предпринимательской деятельности. Осуществлен детальный анализ тенденций социально ответственного по-ведения украинских субъектов предпринимательства. Выявлены факторы, со-действующие формированию социальной ответственности украинских пред-принимателей и сдерживающие этот процесс. Обосновано перспективное сос-тояние социальной ответственности субъектов предпринимательской деятель-ности в Украине. Осуществлена оценка социально ответственного поведения в контексте основных параметров базового уровня ответственности.
Author's conception on the base of systematic approach of social responsibility of entrepreneurs is worked out at the thesis. New methodological approaches and theoretical propositions which concern forming and development of social responsibility of entrepreneurs for present situation are substantiated. It is proposed to regard social responsibility as multiple-aspect phenomenon. Backgrounds of forming social responsibility are examined. The value factors and their role for forming of social responsibility of entrepreneurs are indicated. Importance of interaction between state and entrepreneurs for social response-bility development is proved. Importance of social responsibility for estimation and regulation of social responsibility of business structure is substantiated. Classification of social responsibility levels of entrepreneurs is improved. The main trends of development of social responsible behavior of entrepreneurs are substantiated. The factors which favour and restrain social responsible behavior forming of Ukrainian entrepreneurs are indicated. The system of tasks for main participators of social responsibility realization in Ukraine is outlined. The estimation of social responsible behavior in the context of basic characteristics is made

In this paper, I analyze the effectiveness of state level Earned Income Tax Credit programs on improving of poverty levels. I conducted this analysis for the years 1991 through 2011 using a panel data model with fixed effects. The main independent variables of interest were the state and federal EITC rates, minimum wage, gross state product, population, and unemployment all by state. I determined increases to the state EITC rates provided only a slight decrease to both the overall white below-poverty population and the corresponding white childhood population under 18, while both the overall and the under-18 black population for this category realized moderate decreases in their poverty rates for the same time period. I also provide a comparison of the effectiveness of the state level EITCs and minimum wage at the state level over the same time period on these select demographic groups.

Qu’elle soit extranationale, transnationale ou internationale par nature, l’infraction internationale est toujours construite de la même manière : elle naît de la réunion d’un élément matériel et d’un élément moral, incluant parfois un élément contextuel. Cette constance structurelle dominant la diversité définitionnelle milite en faveur d’une unification des formes de la participation associées à ces infractions internationales : la spécificité de la participation à l’infraction internationale résiderait donc dans la spécificité, non des formes de la première, mais de la définition de la seconde. D’ailleurs, il n’existe que deux grands systèmes de participation applicables à l’infraction internationale : celui des juridictions pénales nationales et celui des juridictions pénales internationales. De leur comparaison, pourrait naître un système unique de participation à l’infraction internationale, permettant de mieux appréhender la criminalité collective en attribuant aux participants intellectuels une place plus juste au sein de la participation. En effet, après quelques adaptations nécessaires, il pourrait être fait appel au critère mixte du contrôle sur l’infraction internationale, développé récemment par la Cour pénale internationale, pour distinguer les formes principales des formes secondaires de la participation à l’infraction internationale. Ainsi, seraient des participants principaux les agents qui, avec l’état d’esprit idoine, prennent le contrôle de l’infraction internationale (coauteurs et auteurs intellectuels), tandis que seraient des participants secondaires les agents qui ne prennent pas un tel contrôle (complices par aide ou assistance et subordonnants)
Can it be extranational, transnational or international by nature, the international crime is always the same : it needs the reunion of a material element and a moral element, sometimes including a contextual element. This structural constancy, which dominates the definitional diversity, inclines us to campaign for the unification of the participation forms associated to the whole international crimes. In other words, the specifity of the participation in the international crime would be less due to the specifity of the first one’s forms than to the specifity of the second one’s definition. Now, there are only two grand systems of participation in the international crime : the one applied by the national criminal jurisdictions and the one applied by the international criminal jurisdictions. From the comparison of these two systems, it is possible to imagine a unique system of participation in the international crime, permitting a better understanding of the collective criminality by attributing a righter role to the intellectual participants within the participation. More precisely, and after a few necessary adaptations, control over the international crime, which is a mixed criterion recently developed by the International Criminal Court, could be used to distinguish the main forms from the secondary forms of participation in the international crime. Thus, main participants might be those who, with the suitable state of mind, take control over the international crime (co-perpetrators and intellectual perpetrators) while secondary participants might be those who don’t take such a control (accomplices by aid and assistance and “subordinators”)

碩士
國立高雄大學
金融管理學系碩士班
102
Because of the globalization, the market is more competitive. The corporate tends to implement social responsibility in the aspects of steak holders’ wealth, environment and social welfare to create its competitive advantages and to reach its goal of maximizing shareholders’ wealth. The conclusions of existing literature related to the relationship between corporate performance and CSR are still ambiguous. The corporate might improve its profitability by implementing CSR. However, there might a possibility that the corporate implement CSR because of its good profitability. Therefore, the objective of this study is test the granger causality of the corporate performance and CSR by using the model of Dumitrescu and Hurlin (2012). First of all, this study will create a CSR index of all listed firms in Taiwan by using five aspects in measuring CSR of Taiwan Economic Journal database. Furthermore, in terms of the industrial competitiveness, such as gross margin, profit margin, and industrial concentration, this study will test the relationship between corporate performance and CSR. The empirical results show that, using return on assets or return on equity as a measure of corporate performance, the causal relationship between CSR and performance is bilateral and positive. They indicate that implementing CSR improves firms’ profitability and superior performance in terms of profitability provides the intention of implementing CSR. However, the causal relationship between CSR and stock return is unilateral. Corporates with higher stock returns lead to higher incentive to implement CSR. Taking competition factor, empirical results show that competitive condition will significant effect the causal relationship between CSR and performance. Therefore, the policy implication of this study is that government can effectively promote CSR by considering competition factor.

This item is only available electronically.
The following thesis investigates the relationship between electricity consumption and economic growth in China over the period 1985-2012. Long and short run Granger causal relationships between these variables are ascertained by applying a vector error correction model to national, electricity-market, and provincial-level data. A comparison is then made between the relationships obtained from these different datasets. The results suggest that a large amount of information is lost as a result of aggregation, with data at the national and electricity-market levels being unable to accurately reflect prevailing relationships observed at the provincial level. This observation is particularly relevant given the predominance of national level studies found in the literature.
Thesis (B.Ec.(Hons)) -- University of Adelaide, School of Economics, 2017

The question as to whether companies can “do well while doing good” has been investigated by academics for over four decades. Conclusive evidence of a positive link between Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and Corporate Financial Performance (CFP) so far has however remained elusive. In building on previous research findings, this study aimed to provide a deeper understanding into the mediating and moderating factors that impact a firm’s ability to generate returns from social investment. In particular, the moderating effect of social and environmental (SEI) impact levels on CSR returns were further investigated. Following the risk-reduction and value-creating hypotheses, it was asserted that sustainable firms with high SEI would yield superior CFP as compared to their peers with lower levels of social and environmental impact. The findings revealed that sustainable firms with high levels of social and environmental impact indeed had higher CFP than their peers with medium and low social and environmental impacts levels. However, the same results were yielded for non-sustainable companies. Although the main hypothesis did not yield the expected outcomes, the study provided important insights into the role of moderating factors on the ability for firms to generate returns from CSR. Moreover, the study uncovered previously unexplored areas of CSR and thereby opened up new avenues for future research.
Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2014.
lmgibs2015
Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS)
Unrestricted

As stakeholders start holding companies accountable for the non-financial impacts of their operations, it is increasingly recognised that the parties to whom companies are accountable extends beyond shareholders to include other stakeholders as well. Around the world, companies are responding to stakeholder demands by voluntarily reporting on their corporate social responsibility (CSR) performance. Unscrupulous companies may however, be tempted to use green-wash to make false claims relating to their CSR performance in order to reap the associated benefits. This information risk may be ameliorated through the independent assurance of CSR disclosures, enhancing the confidence of stakeholders in its veracity. Reporting companies usually voluntarily obtain independent assurance on their CSR performance. However, in South Africa, independent CSR assurance is a regulatory requirement for all JSE-listed companies, albeit on an ‘apply or explain’ basis. This thesis, which utilises a mixed methods research approach incorporating both qualitative and quantitative components, seeks to identify and understand the characteristics of the emerging independent CSR assurance phenomenon. In this regard, the empirical component of the study was conducted in three phases: in the first phase companies’ CSR disclosures and assurance reports are examined; in the second phase survey responses from companies are reviewed; and in the third phase interviews with CSR assurors are analysed. In this thesis, the extent to which companies provide independent assurance on their CSR disclosures is established; the providers of independent CSR assurance are identified; the reasons that companies select certain CSR assurance providers are explored; the reasons that companies provide independent assurance on their CSR disclosures are determined; the CSR assurance practices of the various CSR assurors are reviewed and compared; and the primary standards and/or frameworks used in CSR assurance engagements are identified. A conclusion is reached that although independent CSR assurance is a de facto mandatory requirement for JSE-listed companies, only 26% of the companies had their CSR disclosures independently assured. Despite its de facto mandatory nature, the study found that South African CSR assurance practices remain largely unregulated, resulting in a diversity of CSR assurors; utilising various assurance approaches, standards and practices. In this thesis, it is argued that these inconsistencies undermine the purpose of CSR assurance and reduce stakeholder confidence. It is accordingly proposed that the identified deficiencies could be addressed through the regulation of CSR reporting and assurance. An oversight/regulatory body should be established to prescribe the competencies that CSR assurors should possess; to develop appropriate CSR assurance engagement standards; and to clearly articulate the scope that CSR assurance engagements should cover; with which all CSR assurors should comply.
Auditing
D. Com. (Auditing)

碩士
中國文化大學
國際企業管理研究所
99
With the rapid globalization progress and technology developments, enterprises are taking various strategies for benefits in confronting with severer market competition.Besides, in responding to the threats of climate changes and financial turbulence, Corporate Social Responsibility (hereinafter as CSR) and Sustainable Developments are becoming topics for global public discussions recently.Nevertheless, with the limitations on the studies between modern consumers and CSR, especially from consumers’ viewpoints, it is discerned that price is not minded by modern consumers, rather than raw materials, product quality, environment friendliness, services, or other rights and interests, which have influence upon the purchase behavior and re-purchase willingness of consumer.This study discovered that the consumer will balance against the enterprise directly by asking that the production process should be in compliance with economic customs or legal regulations. The enterprise, on the contrary, will fully implement its social responsibilities indirectly by educating the consumer behavior, cognition, and habits. This study discussed the relationship between different CSR and consumer satisfaction, with the analysis to the impact of interference effect by consumer involvement levels and consumer satisfaction.Among the total 900 surveys, 813 copies were responded and validity ratio was 84.6%.This study showed that there was a positive relation between consumer satisfaction and CSR implementations, and in addition, there was no moderation effect between consumer satisfaction and consumer involvement to compulsory CSR.Due to the significantly positive relation between consumer satisfaction and voluntary CSR, it implied that the higher involvement levels of individual consumer, products and situational factors, the more positive influence on the relationship between voluntary CSR and consumer satisfaction, repurchasing willingness, and loyalty.The conclusions of this study suggested that the interactive communication approach between CSR and the consumer results in a mutually escalating influence. Moreover, establishment of impartial third party surveillance will insure the effects and validity of CSR implementations. Finally, the enterprise should focus on strategic CSR ends in its long-term operation for creating synergy of lasting effective integration on social resources and allocation of responsibilities.

Esta investigação tem como objetivo principal compreender a forma como a RSE é vivenciada no contexto das PME. Apresentando-se como um conceito controverso, a RSE surge com uma longa história que nos liga ao início do século XX e com várias definições de diversos autores. Com o intuito de perceber como é que as PME percecionam a RSE e como a colocam em prática, através do seu envolvimento e posicionamento em relação ao tema, foi efetuado um estudo de caso ao Grupo Erofio, constituído por duas PME, que foram alvo de análise em relação ao seu grau de compromisso com a Responsabilidade Social e em relação às práticas que efetuam nesse âmbito. Neste sentido foram utilizadas ferramentas metodológicas que permitiram avaliar o grau de maturidade do Grupo Erofio no âmbito da RSE. Os resultados indicam que neste caso em concreto é pelas práticas de RSE desenvolvidas pelo Grupo que se consegue perceber o seu verdadeiro grau de compromisso para com a temática. Apesar de não existir a evidência de um grau de compromisso das empresas para com a RSE, pode existir um conjunto de práticas que revelam a existência desse compromisso, de forma inconsciente. Este estudo revela-se uma mais-valia para este grupo empresarial, em particular, porque lhe permite direcionar as suas ações no âmbito da RSE e, uma mais-valia na sua generalidade, porque permite a outras empresas a realização de estudos futuros, contribuindo assim para a produção de conhecimento e permitindo às empresas uma melhor integração das práticas de RS e uma melhor preparação para o futuro.
The purpose of this research is to understand how CSR is experienced in SMEs. CSR is a controversial concept whose long history takes us back to the early 20th century, and is defined in very many ways by different authors. With the aim of understanding how SMEs view CSR and how they put it into practice, through their involvement and position in relation to it, a case study was made of the Erofio Group, formed by two SMEs, which analysed their degree of involvement with Social Responsibility and the practices thereof. To this end, we used methodological tools to assess the degree of maturity of the Erofio Group regarding CSR. The results indicate that, in this specific case, the real degree of commitment to this topic is measured through the Group’s CSR practices. Although there is no evidence of the companies’ degree of commitment to CSR, there may be a number of practices that show that the commitment does exist, even if unconsciously. This study brings specific added benefits to this corporate group because it allows it to target its CSR actions, and general benefits because it allows other companies to perform future studies, thus contributing to the production of knowledge and enabling the companies to better integrate SR practices and be better prepared for the future.

Tese no âmbito do curso de Doutoramento em Direito, na área das Ciências Jurídico-Criminais, apresentada à Faculdade de Direito da Universidade de Coimbra.
Ao contrário da legislação anterior, o art. 26.º do Código Penal distingue entre autoria mediata e instigação, não obstante aplicando a ambas uma mesma moldura abstrata de pena. Para lá disso, o legislador nada diz: não indica nenhum critério material capaz de separar as duas figuras, nem os grupos de casos que seriam catalogados numa e noutra, tampouco quais os atributos jurídicos que devem constar do facto principal do instigado. A única diferença estabelecida na lei decorre da passagem que condiciona a punição do instigador ao início da execução do autor. A definição daqueles outros aspetos foi deixada nas mãos da doutrina e da jurisprudência, prevalecendo ainda hoje na literatura a tese de que o instigador também é um verdadeiro autor. Este entendimento e a convicção de que referida igualdade sancionatória não suscita maiores problemas de legitimação têm alimentado uma evolução dogmática onde são escassos os esforços no sentido de uma interpretação restritiva da regra da instigação, de modo a excluir da sua alçada as situações de mera influência psíquica sobre a decisão delitiva do homem-da-frente. Todavia, parece adequado contestar este cenário se regressamos à elementar ideia que faz da autonomia do ser humano o alfa e o ómega do Direito, e, em particular, do Direito Penal. Tanto mais quanto esta mesma (auto)compreensão do cidadão como sujeito livre e responsável constituiu a pedra-de-toque do projeto que esteve na base do Código Penal vigente. Se quiser ser algo mais que uma cláusula de estilo ou slogan da moda e coisa diversa de um mero limite externo ao jogo de ponderação, a tão falada dignidade da pessoa humana terá de repercutir já na própria compreensão das estruturas adscritivas que sustentam o pesado edifício da responsabilidade criminal. Especialmente ali onde o dilema da referência, um eixo crucial para qualquer Direito Penal do facto, se torna mais agudo: o terreno comparticipação no delito. Levar a autonomia do cidadão a sério implica reconhecer que a clivagem entre autoria mediata e instigação pertence a um tópico qualitativo (não quantitativo) relacionado com a diversidade das categorias lógicas e pragmáticas que suportam a separação conceptual entre autoria e participação. Assim, o presente estudo procura traduzir a gramática profunda da autonomia cidadã numa forma de idioma que pretende ir além do status quo do Direito legislado: a linguagem da teoria das normas. Com isso abre-se um horizonte analítico que devolve ao livre agir do homem-da-frente um efeito de absoluta proibição de regresso ao homem-de-trás. O resultado direto deste redimensionamento é a conclusão de que o enunciado «o instigador é autor» é analiticamente incorreto: por definição, valendo a premissa da autonomia do cidadão, o instigador não pode ser (conceptualmente) autor. O que implica a rejeição da teoria do «autor-detrás-do-autor (plenamente responsável)». Assumindo uma noção de liberdade onto-antropologicamente fundada, a dissertação chega a uma segunda conclusão não menos importante: no quadro da tradicional distribuição de hipóteses entre autoria mediata e instigação, a igualdade sancionatória não pode ser explicada pelo princípio da autonomia do ser humano, mas apenas por uma abordagem consequencialista (utilitarista) que instrumentaliza o instigado para fins que são alheios ao teor de envolvimento pessoal cristalizado no seu próprio comportamento e no facto principal. Assim, de lege ferenda, o esquema corrente seria menos desajustado se fosse introduzida, em favor do instigador, uma cláusula de atenuação especial (facultativa) da pena. De qualquer modo, esta modificação ainda não eliminaria totalmente as fricções com o princípio da autodeterminação individual. Para tanto, há ainda uma alternativa hermeneuticamente possível de lege lata, embora talvez não desejada pelo legislador histórico: atualizar a função de bloqueio do art. 29.º, enquanto genuíno e inequívoco atestado da irrelevância do juízo de culpa do homem-da-dianteira para o apuramento da responsabilidade do homem-da-retaguarda, a partir daí atualizando-se também o frágil equilíbrio na distribuição dos grupos de casos, com uma substancial redução do alcance da norma da autoria mediata e a correspondente migração de algumas situações para o âmbito da norma da instigação, esta última agora desonerada da obrigação de tematizar hipóteses que podem encontrar satisfatória resposta na figura da cumplicidade psíquica.
Unlike the previous legislation, the section 26 of the Penal Code distinguishes between perpetration-by-means and instigation, despite applying the same abstract frame of penalty to both of them. Beyond that, the legislator says nothing more: he does not indicate any material criteria to separate the two concepts, nor the groups of cases that would be classified in each of them, nor what juridical attributes should be verified in the main action performed by the instigated person. The only difference legally established is the stipulation which connects the punishment of the instigated person to the beginning of the perpetration. The setting of those aspects was left in the hands of doctrine and jurisprudence, still prevailing in the literature the thesis by which the instigator is also a principal. This understanding and the opinion that the referred sanctioning equality does not give rise to major legitimacy problems have fueled a dogmatic approach where are scarce the efforts towards a restrictive interpretation of the instigation rule, in order to exclude from its scope the situations of mere psychic influence on the criminal decision of the man-in-the-front-line. However, it seems appropriate to challenge this scenario if we return to the elementary idea that makes human autonomy the alpha and omega of Law, and, in particular, of the Criminal Law. Even more when this same (self) understanding of the citizen as a free and responsible subject was the cornerstone of the project which offered the basis for the current Penal Code. To be anything more than a style clause or slogan of fashion and something other than a mere external border for proportionality games, the principle of human dignity must have repercussions on the very understanding of the ascriptive structures which support the heavy building of the criminal liability. Especially where the dilemma of reference, a crucial issue for any Criminal Law of the fact, becomes more acute: the charge for accomplice responsibility (complicity). Taking citizens autonomy seriously implies recognizing that the contrast between perpetration-through-another and instigation is a qualitative (non-quantitative) topic related to the diversity of logical and pragmatic categories that support the conceptual distinction between primary and accessorial liability. Accordingly, this investigation tries to translate the deep grammar of citizen autonomy into a kind of language which intends to go beyond the (empirically contingent) status quo of the positive Law: the language of the theory of norms. So reappears an analytical horizon which resets in the free action of the man-in-the-front-line the ascriptive effect of an absolute prohibition of returning to the man-in-the-back-line. Therefore, arises immediately the conclusion that the statement «the instigator is a principal» is analytically incorrect: by definition, due to the citizen’s autonomy, the instigator cannot (conceptually) be a principal. Which implies the rejection of the theory of the so-called «perpetrator-behind-the-(fully-responsible)-perpetrator». Based on an onto-anthropologically based notion of freedom, this dissertation reaches a second, no less important conclusion: in the context of the currently distribution of occurrences between perpetration-by-means and instigation, the equal abstract penalty framework cannot be explained by the principle of human autonomy, but only by a consequentialist (utilitarian) approach that instrumentalizes the instigated person for purposes which are unrelated to the content of personal performance materialized in its own behavior and in the main fact of the perpetrator. Thus, de lege ferenda, the majority understanding would be less unsuitable if a special (optional) penalty mitigation clause was introduced in favor of the instigator. Anyway, this solution would not yet completely eliminate frictions with the principle of individual self-responsibility. To this goal, there is still de lege lata a hermeneutically possible alternative, although perhaps not desired by the historical legislator: to update the blocking function of section 29, while clear and authentic certificate of the irrelevance of the culpability of the man-in-the-front-line to determining the responsibility of the man-in-the-back-line, thereafter also updating the fragile set up in the distribution of groups of cases, with a substantial reduction in the field of the rule of perpetration-through-another and the corresponding transfer of some situations to the circle of the rule of instigation, now relieved of the obligation to deal with hypotheses which can find a satisfactory answer with the classification of simple abetting.