Evidence

2) Biogeography is one source of evidence that evolution accounts for the diversity of life. Biogeography is the study of the geographic distribution of species and has contributed evidence for descent from common ancestors, which was hypothesized by Charles Darwin. Darwin and Alfred Wallace were both very interested in biogeography, which provided Darwin with evidence for evolution. Species distribution can be accounted for by ecological factors or by historical factors. The three major historical factors affecting geographic distribution are dispersal, extinction and vicariance.

Island biogeography has been extensively studied to show the evolution of species due to geographic barriers. Biogeography along with the history of the earth lends supporting evidence to evolution and the diversity of life on earth. Darwin showed that biogeographic facts make sense if a species has a definite site of origin, achieves a broader distribution by dispersal, and becomes modified giving rise to descendent species in the regions in which it migrates. He noticed that unrelated organisms inhabit parts of the world with similar climates and habitats, such as Old and New World organisms.

Darwin also found that organisms of various regions may be different due to barriers or obstacles that may limit migration. He also stated that there is a relation between inhabitants of the same continent or sea but that species differ from place to place. An example of this is aquatic rodents of South America are related to mountainous and grassland rodents of South America, but not to aquatic rodents of North America. Alfred Wallace noticed that several higher taxa had similar distributions and that the composition of biota is more uniform within certain regions then between them.

He had collected specimens in the Malay Archipelago and had thought of natural selection. He did extensive field work in the Amazon and noticed that geographic barriers, such as the Amazon River itself, separated the ranges of closely related species. These observations led him to designate several biogeographic realms. He observed that the fauna of Australia and Asia were different and the break between them is known as the Wallace Line. Historical factors affecting geographic distributions of species include extinction, dispersal, and vicariance. Extinction of certain opulations reduces the distribution of species but it also allows for diversification. Extinctions are selective in that some species are more likely to survive then others. For example, gastropods with wide geographic and ecological distributions and those with many species survived the end-Permian extinction. Extinction can lead to diversification in that it resets the stage for evolutionary radiations, perhaps by permitting the appearance of new community structures. Futuyma suggests that the extinction of one group permits the efflorescence of others, which is also shown in the fossil record.

Dispersal and vicariance are the major hypotheses attributing to a taxon’s distribution. An example of vicarance is taxa that have members on different land masses in the Southern Hemisphere, which is hypothesized to be due to the breakup of Gondwanaland isolating descendents of common ancestors. America, Africa, Madagascar, and India are all home to the freshwater fishes, cichlids. Molecular phylogenetic analyses has shown that two sister clades of cichlids have been found, one consisting of Madagascan and Indian species, and the other of two monophyletic groups, one in Africa and one in South America.

However, the splits between the clades are more recent than the breakup of Gondwanaland which suggests that perhaps the cichlids achieved their distribution by dispersal. Both vicariance and dispersal could be the likely cause of the geographic distribution of cichlids. Species expand their ranges by dispersal which is a critical process for geographic isolation in evolution and the current geographic distributions. Most species are restricted to certain biogeographic realms by their dispersal ability but many species have expanded their range due to human transplant.

For example, the European starling has expanded in North America following its introduction into New York City in 1896 (Futuyma, 2005). Transplanted species may disrupt the ecosystem at its new location by evolving and adapting to the new environment, possibly causing the extinction of native species. Adaptation to the environment as a primary product of evolution was suggested by Jean Baptiste Lamarck who believed that evolution is the best explanation of the diversity of life. Vicariance is the separation of populations of a widespread species by barriers arising from changes in climate, geology, or habitat.

Vicariance can lead to speciation if populations are separated by a geographic barrier and evolve genetic reproductive isolation such that if the barrier disappears, the species can no longer interbreed. Natural selection is a powerful evolutionary force and therefore the genetic changes that result in reproductive isolation in vicariant speciation are likely due to adaptive evolution. Several geological processes can fragment a population into two, such as a mountain range emerging, rivers, lakes, or land bridges.

Island biogeography is a very good example of evidence for evolution. Islands are generally where endemic species of plants and animals are found but Darwin observed that most island species are closely related to species from the nearest mainland or neighbouring island. Two islands that have similar environments in different parts of the world are populated by species that are taxonomically affiliated with the plants and animals of the nearest mainland which generally has a different environment.

Speciation may occur on islands if a species that disperses from a mainland to an island succeeds in its new environment and gives rise to several new species as populations spread to other islands. Once isolated, geographically separated populations become genetically differentiated as a result of mutation and other processes such as natural selection. Environmental factors are likely to be different from one place to another so natural selection can contribute to geographic variation, differences in the gene pool between populations.

Speciation is often a gradual process as the reproductive barriers between the groups is only partial in the beginning but leads to complete reproduction separation (Campbell and Reece, 2002). An example of vicariance and island biogeography is the finches on the Galapagos Islands. Darwin noticed that the finches he collected from the islands were very similar, but that they were in fact different species. Some were unique to individual islands, while other species were distributed on two or more islands that were close together.

New finch species had arisen from an ancestral form by the gradual accumulation of adaptations to a different environment. For example, the different beak sizes of the finches are adapted to the specific food available to them on their home island. This is an example of species adapting and evolving to suit their new environment. The Hawaiian Islands are another example of the world’s showcase of evolution and island biogeography. Each island started bare but was gradually populated by species that either rode ocean currents or blew over in the wind, either from distant islands or continents.

The physical diversity of each island provides many different environmental opportunities for evolutionary divergence by natural selection. Many of the plants and animals that are currently found on the islands are found nowhere else in the world, they are endemic to the Hawaiian archipelago (Campbell and Reece, 2002). The history of earth also helps to explain the current geographic distribution of species. For example, the emergence of volcanic islands such as the Galapagos opens new environments for species to inhabit and adaptive radiation fills many of the available niches with new species.

On a global scale, continental drift is a major factor correlated with the spatial distribution of life and with such evolutionary episodes as mass extinctions followed by increases in biological diversity. The continents drift about earth’s surface on plates of crust floating on the hot mantle and their positions can therefore change relative to one another. At the end of the Paleozoic era, plate movements brought all the landmasses together into a super continent named Pangaea. Species that had been evolving in isolation were brought together at this point and forced to compete.

The formation of Pangea reduced shoreline, drained shallow coastal areas, changed the climate and increased the area inland destroying a considerable amount of habitat and reshaping biodiversity. During the Mesozoic, Pangaea broke apart creating new continents that became separate evolutionary areas allowing flora and fauna to diverge. The diversity of life on earth is due to millions of years of evolution. Darwin and Wallace were both important figures in the field of biogeography as their interest and research led to ideas that are still apparent today.

Historical geographic factors and the history of the earth are a few aspects that have led to current biodiversity. Biogeography shows compelling evidence that species evolve through natural selection by adapting to new environments. Speciation will continue to occur as the environment changes and as the continents continue to drift. References: Campbell, N. A, and Reece, J. B. 2002. Biology; Sixth Edition. Benjamin Cummings, San Francisco. Futuyma, D. J. 2005. Evolution. Sinauer Associates Inc. , Massachusetts.

My priorities for this investigation are to determine if a crime has been committed, and what crime has been committed, how many perpetrators there are, who are the next possible victims and where to locate them so they can receive police protection, who is or are responsible for the attacks, find evidence to prove the perpetrators guilty, and to present the proof to the prosecutor in the best manner to make sure that the perpetrator or perpetrators gets jail time. The most time will be spent on who are the perpetrators are, but a considerable amount of time will be spent on what crimes the perpetrator or perpetrators committed due to the severity of the situation; for example, burglary is larceny if a car is involved in some places.

Finding out who could be the next victims could be is the second most important thing in the investigation because I will need to manage the resources so that possible victims are safe but the investigation is not undermined due to being understaffed. After possible suspects have been arrested and are being brought to trial presenting the information in a way that the prosecutor will vote guilty is the second most vital task except for pressing charges on them that apply to their crimes. A medical examiner will be needed to perform an autopsy on the victim that passed.

I would make the perimeter around the crime scenes large so that evidence would likely be in the circle. I would also make sure that anything found at the crime scene would be covered due to the snowstorm possibly ruining evidence. I would check each crime scene for bullets to take to forensics so they can learn whether the bullets were fired from the same gun. I would check the scene for a jacket that one of the witnesses mentioned in case the perpetrator left it there while running away.

Some officers would be interviewing the witnesses and victims to find the link between them and recording their statements for later use, some would be interviewing suspects, some officers would be searching for evidence and , and the other officers would be finding out what the evidence is and what information it gives. For example, certain guns use certain bullets and it can narrow down the list of the guns used in the attack. I would also get field tests so that the items can be tested before they go to the lab and waste time and resources.

I would establish a command center to make sure that all the information gathered will be disseminated to the officers searching for the suspect and so they can keep track of all the evidence. I would organize it by laboratory reports, autopsy results, interviews of the victims and witnesses, updates on evidence, and news articles. Everything will be kept in a chronological order and it will be filed away for later since most cases do not go to trial immediately after a person has been charged with a crime.

The first lead that I would investigate is the man claiming his roommate went out with a gun that was very angry about something because that could lead to the police identifying the perpetrator. The second lead that I would pay attention to the people mentioning the pickup truck because it was mentioned several times by the witnesses of the shootings, and it is high up on the list because it’s the only description that seems consistent amongst all of the eyewitnesses.

My third lead is the John Ramsey’s description of the perpetrator because he saw the perpetrator clearly, unlike the witness that says that they did not get a clear look at the perpetrator, but eyewitness testimony is known to be incredibly unreliable. The information about the truck that’s darker in color and has a license plate that begins with M is not as high up because it is likely to be unrelated to the current case, but it is still pertinent because the perpetrator could be the same person.

I would pay the second to last amount of attention to the person that called saying “I know who did it.” before hanging up; since the person’s number is a mystery and the police are having a hard time learning the number through the tools at their disposal, the call is likely to be a prank pulled by someone deliberately hiding the number through a spoofing tool. I would pay the least amount of attention to the description of the blue car because it does not seem pertinent to the current case, but the lead would still be investigated because shots were fired from that car and that person could be working with the perpetrator of the latest shootings.

I would make sure to keep the victims up to date about the investigation unless it could affect the investigation. I would also try to find a link between the victims through people they know, such as drug dealers, friends, and colleagues. Once a link has been established I would inform the possible victims that there is a chance that they are in danger.

The first statement would be a simple statement that acknowledges the situation, that the police are working to confirm the facts before we go public, and that I would set a time to have a press release. After we confirmed the information to be accurate, I would start off the debriefing with the facts about the situation; I would state that there are three known victims of the attacks, and that one victim has passed. I would not tell them the name of the victim because the family has not been notified yet.

I would give them a description of the suspect; he is a white male in his twenties or thirties that is wearing jeans and a tee shirt and possibly a jacket. I would make sure to tell people that there are several police stations working together to make sure that the perpetrators are caught. I would make sure that there are police patrolling the area in the background and state that the police are patrolling the area I would make sure that no opinions reach the press because it can negatively affect the investigation by disseminating false information.

I would see link the description of the cars together for the first three attacks and I would also check the bullets on the gun scenes to see if they were fired from the same gun. I will connect the next two scenes trucks together as well to see if any truck matches that description. I believe that there is more than one person involved with this case based off the evidence and that the two later cases are unrelated to the first three. I also believe that the roommate that went out with a gun is a suspect and I would get information about any vehicles he may own that may be linked to the crime.

Micro data—that is, data on individual businesses that underlie key economic indicators—allow us to go behind published statistics and ask how IT affects businesses’ economic performance. Years ago, analyses indicated a positive relationship between IT and productivity, even when official aggregate statistics still pointed towards a “productivity paradox. Now, such analyses shed light on how varied that relationship is across businesses, and how IT makes its impacts. This chapter focuses on research about businesses based on micro data collected by the U. S. Census Bureau. We highlight the kinds of questions about the use and impact of IT that only micro data allow us to address. Micro data studies in the United States and in other OECD countries show that IT affects the productivity and growth of individual economic units. Specific estimates of the size of the effect vary among studies.

Researchers comparing manufacturing plants in the United States and Germany, for example, find that in each country investing heavily in IT yields a productivity premium, but that the premium is higher in the United States than it is in Germany. They also find that the productivity premium varies much more for U. S. manufacturers. This greater variability is consistent with the view that the U. S. policy and institutional environments may be more conducive to experimentation by U. S. businesses. What kind of IT investments do U. S. businesses make? Census Bureau data on U. S. manufacturing establishments show that they invest in both computer networks and the kind of complex software that coordinates multiple business processes within and among establishments. About 50 percent of these plants have networks, while fewer than 10 percent have invested in this complex software.

Careful micro data research shows that the relationship between IT and economic performance is complex. “IT” emerges as a suite of alternatives from which businesses make different choices. Estimates of the size of the effect, and how IT makes its impact, remain hard to pinpoint. Data gaps make it hard to conduct careful analyses on the effect of IT. Continuing efforts by researchers and statistical organizations are filling some of the data gaps, but the gaps remain largest for the sectors outside manufacturing—the sectors that are the most IT-intensive.

More definitive research requires that statistical agencies make producing micro data a priority. What Are Micro Data? Micro data generally contain information about many characteristics of the economic unit, such as plant employment, years in business, share of IT in costs, ways it uses IT, and its economic performance. Micro data exist for both businesses and individuals, and can be developed by private and public organizations. This chapter focuses on research using micro data about businesses that are collected by the U. S.Bureau of the Census.

BENEFITS OF MICRO DATA RESEARCH

Standard analyses of productivity and similar economic phenomena frequently assume that businesses are identical, at least within an industry, and therefore also respond similarly to changes in economic circumstances. However, it is easy to challenge this assumption simply by observing the variety of businesses in any industry, no matter how narrowly the industry is defined, and how diverse their responses appear to be. Case studies in specific industries repeatedly bear out this observation.

Micro data allow us to assess the diversity of businesses and track behaviors such as their entry and exit into an industry. They also allow us to document changes in businesses’ performance, such as employment, sales, and productivity, and see whether those changes are uniform among industries, within industries, or among businesses of given ages, sizes, and so forth. Two decades of research using micro data reveal tremendous variety in the economic characteristics and performance of businesses at any time, and over time. 1 An excellent summary is E. Barltesman and M. Doms, “Understanding Productivity: Lessons from Longitudinal Microdata,” Journal of Economic Literature, Vol. 38 (September 2000).

They also allow researchers to apply econometric techniques that take account of the kinds of complex relationships that simply cannot be presented in tables or other aggregated formats. Comparing findings from research studies using different data sets allows us to see which estimates appear to be robust, and which ones seem to depend on the specific data we use, and on the specific equations we estimate.

RESEARCH REQUIRES GOOD MICRO DATA

Micro data research takes advantage of the high-quality information about individual businesses that underlies major economic indicators.

The micro data sets typically are large and nationally representative, making it more likely that they capture the tremendous diversity among businesses. 2 Researchers often are able to link data at the micro level across surveys and over time. For example, consider the new information on whether businesses have computer networks, and how they use those networks that was collected in the Computer Network Use Supplement (CNUS) to the 1999 Annual Survey of Manufactures (ASM). The plant-level micro data about computer networks collected in the CNUS can be linked to information about employment, shipments, use of other inputs, etc. , collected about the same plants in the 1999 ASM and to ASMs for other years, and to data that was collected about the same plants in the 1997 Economic Census. Such exact linkages yield much richer information bases than any single supplement, survey, or census alone. When micro data can be linked, researchers also can use econometric techniques to control for unobserved characteristics that are specific to an individual plant or business.

These techniques allow researchers to have more confidence that findings, such as the effect of IT actually are due to IT and not to related but unmeasured characteristics, such as good management or a skilled work force. The Role of Information Technologies in Business Performance Recent research using micro data generally concludes that IT and productivity are related. Indeed, micro data analyses indicated a positive relationship between IT and productivity when official aggregate statistics still pointed towards a “productivity paradox. Two recent reviews of plant- or firm-level empirical studies of information technology (including but not limited to computers) and economic performance conclude that the literature shows positive relationships between information technology and productivity. However, specific estimates of the size of the effect vary widely among studies. How IT makes its impact also remains hard to pinpoint. While micro data provide raw material for important analyses, they are not a panacea. Researchers must address significant challenges when using existing micro data to analyze questions about the economic performance of businesses.

THE ROLE OF IT IN PRODUCTIVITY—A BRIEF SURVEY OF THE LITERATURE

Many recent studies use micro data to document and describe the productivity of different kinds of businesses, and to examine its sources.

The simple model that suggests productivity growth occurs among all existing plants simply does not fit with what the micro data show. Instead, the micro data show that much of aggregate productivity growth comes about through a much more diversified and dynamic process. Less productive plants go out of business, relatively productive plants continue, and the new entrants that survive are more productive than either. Micro data research on the effect of IT explores how IT fits into this complex picture of business behavior.

Dozens of research papers over the last decade examine various facets of the relationship between IT and productivity. Two recent reviews summarizing the current literature on IT and productivity conclude that there is an impact, although there is much variation among studies in the estimated magnitudes of that effect.

Most studies do not adjust for the high obsolescence rate of information technology capital, which lowers net returns. Also, total investment in information technology may be understated because most studies measure only computer hardware, but not related labor or software, or costs of coinvention, such as re-engineering business processes to take advantage of the new information technology. Stiroh (2002) reviews twenty recent empirical studies of the relationship between information technology and output and productivity. The studies generally find a positive effect of information technology on output.

However, the estimates differ across studies, and the studies differ in many dimensions, including time periods covered and specific estimation techniques used. Stiroh looks for predictable effects of differences in characteristics of the studies, such as time periods, level of aggregation (e. g. , industry, sector, or entire economy), and estimation techniques. He finds that much of the variation across studies in the estimates of the effect of information technology probably reflects differences in characteristics of the studies.

His research finds that information technology matters, but that even within a single database, estimates of the magnitude of that effect depend on the particular equation that is estimated. Finally, Stiroh notes a potential for publication bias. Because theory predicts a positive relationship between IT and productivity, researchers may tend to report, and editors may tend to accept for publication, only those papers with the “right” results on the impact of IT. However, as his research demonstrates, estimates are sensitive to both the data used and the particular equation that is estimated.

He concludes that information technology matters, but the wide variation in empirical estimates means that much “depends on the details of the estimation” and “one must be careful about putting too much weight on any given estimates. ” The conclusion that recent studies show a positive effect of information technology stands in contrast to earlier studies, many of which found no relationship. Both Dedrick (2003) and Stiroh (2002) note that the best data available to early researchers suffered from small sample sizes, few or no small firms or plants, and lack of data on information technology investment. These data gaps may be why early micro data studies failed to find a relationship between IT and performance.

CAUSE AND EFFECT: DOES USING IT MAKE BUSINESSES MORE PRODUCTIVE?

The literature so far yields mixed findings on cause and effect between IT and plant-level economic performance. Early research is limited to manufacturing. The first findings in this area were that more productive plants may be more likely to adopt best practices, including new technologies, and that they are able to afford to do so. However, later research suggests that less productive plants may invest in those technologies, perhaps trying to boost their productivity. 6 Recent research expands the scope of analysis of the effect of IT in the retail sector. It examines the relationship between investments in information technology and two performance measures for retail firms, productivity and growth in the number of establishments. The research finds that, in retail, IT is closely related to productivity growth, but not to growth in the number of establishments that retail firms operate.

While the United States and a few other economies enjoyed the boom of the late 90s, many European economies experienced sluggish growth. Several explanations have been put forward including differences in the policy and institutional settings across countries, measurement issues, and time lags (micro data research showed positive effects of IT in the United States before aggregate statistics). Some have hypothesized that the U. S. economy was able to make more effective use of the new general-purpose technology of IT because its regulatory and institutional environment permits firms to experiment more. An important component of the U. S. bility in this regard is the efficient reallocation of resources away from firms whose experiments in the marketplace fail, to those whose experiments succeed. The OECD’s Growth Project (Box 5. 1) study found evidence that the Schumpeterian processes of churning and creative destruction (or market selection) yield greater economic effects in the United States than in other OECD countries. These processes affect aggregate productivity growth as lower productivity firms shrink and exit and higher productivity firms enter and grow. Is it the case that IT has had a greater impact on business performance in the United States because the U. S. policy and institutional environment is more conducive to market selection and learning?

Recent research using micro data from the United States and Germany attempts to address this question. The analysis first compares the differences between various groups (e. g. , young vs. old, or those that invest heavily in IT vs. those that do not) of manufacturing establishments within each country. These differences are then compared across the two countries. This allows the researchers to contrast the impact of IT on economic performance between the two countries. The results suggest that U. S. anufacturing establishments benefit more from investing in IT and are more likely to experiment with different ways of conducting business than their German counterparts even after controlling for several plant specific factors such as industry, age, size, and so on.

The researchers examined investment in both general and IT-specific equipment. The core comparison group had no investment. The other two groups—with investment in any equipment, and investment in IT equipment—were split into “high” and “low” investment groups at the 75th percentile of the investment intensity distributions. Plants with “high” investment intensities were those with intensities exceeding at least 75 percent of all other investing plants. These computations were done for both overall investment in equipment (excluding structures) and for IT equipment, giving a combined seven investment intensity categories.

Then the researchers compared the within country differences across the United States and Germany to see in which country the reward for experimentation (as measured by high investment episodes) is highest. Panel A shows that U. S. businesses that invest heavily, both overall and in IT, are much more productive than those that invest little or none at all. The same holds true for Germany, but the productivity premium is much higher in the United States. Panel B shows that U. S. businesses that invest heavily (i. e. are experimenting with new technologies) have more varied productivity outcomes as measured by the standard deviation than do firms that invest little or not at all. This is not the case in Germany. In fact, the German data show that firms that invest intensively have less varied productivity outcomes. This is consistent with the notion that the U. S. policy and institutional environment is more conducive to market experimentation. These results should be viewed with caution as they relate to only two countries and there are many factors the researchers do not control for.

DOES IT MATTER HOW IT IS USED?

Businesses in the United States have used IT for fifty years. Originally, firms that used IT may have had advantage over competitors who did not. But today, simply investing in IT may no longer be enough. The question for economic performance is no longer whether IT is used, but how it is used.

New data from the 1999 Computer Network Use Supplement (CNUS) to the 1999 Annual Survey of Manufactures (ASM) are beginning to be used to model how manufacturing plants use computer networks in the United States. Respondents’ answers to questions about processes can be linked to the information the same respondents reported on regular ASM survey forms, such as the value of shipments, employment, and product class shipments. Figure 5. 2 presents researchers’ estimates of the diffusion of computer networks. The research finds that computer networks are widely diffused within manufacturing, with networks at about half of all plants.

The share of employment at plants with networks is almost identical in durable and non-durable manufacturing. Use of networks varies a great deal within those sub-sectors; the share of plants with networks ranges from lows of about 30 percent to highs of about 70 percent. The CNUS also provides new information about some aspects of how plants use computer networks. Figure 5. 2 reports estimates of the diffusion of fully integrated enterprise resource planning software (FIERP); that is, the kind of software that links different kinds of applications (such as inventory, tracking, and payroll) within and across businesses.

Plants in all manufacturing industries use this complex software. However, FEIRP software remains relatively rare compared to computer networks. While about half of all manufacturing plants have networks, fewer than 10 percent have this kind of software. Initial research finds that computer networks have a positive and significant effect on plant’s labor productivity. After accounting for multiple factors of production and plant characteristics, productivity is about five percent higher in plants with networks. When economic characteristics in prior periods and investment in computers are also accounted for, there continues to be a positive and statistically significant relationship between computer networks and U. S. manufacturing plant productivity. 10 These initial findings for the United States are consistent with findings for other countries. Recent research for Canada, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom, for example, all find positive relationships between using computer networks and productivity. 11 Research for Japan finds that computer expenditures and computer networks both affected productivity between 1990 and 2001.

In more recent years, the effects are larger, but they also vary much more among industries. 12 Some micro data research for the United States during the 1990s suggests that IT needs to be used together with worker training and revised workplace practices to yield productivity gains. These findings are based on data containing detailed information about the use of computers in the workplace. They also contain information rarely available in other sources on the employers’ management and worker training policies. Research for Australia and Canada, previously cited, also finds that returns to IT are intertwined with the use of R&D, innovation, and changes in workplace practices and organization. This line of research suggests that IT is important, but that it makes its impact when accompanied by changes in other factors and practices.

IS THE IMPACT OF IT THE SAME FOR ALL KINDS OF IT, EVERYWHERE? —EVIDENCE FROM STUDIES OF MARKET STRUCTURE IT

K. Motohashi, “Firm level analysis of information network use and productivity in Japan,” presented at the conference on Comparative Analysis of Enterprise (micro) Data, London (September 2003). S. Black, and L. Lynch, “How to Compete: The Impact of Workplace Practices and Information Technology on Productivity,” Review of Economics and Statistics, Vol. 83 No. 3 (August 2001); and D. Neumark and P. Cappelli, “Do ‘High Performance’ Work Practices Improve Establishment-Level Outcomes? ” Industrial and Labor Relations Review (July 2001).

Similarly, use of the Internet might make it easier for consumers to compare prices, and so lead to a reduction in prices for products sold on-line or in “bricks and mortar” establishments. At the same time, a firm building an on-line sales-based business may incur costs that brick and mortar businesses might not, such as cost associated with having inventories available for immediate delivery anywhere in the United States (or the world). The issues are scarcely settled. In this section, selected examples from micro data research illustrate IT’s multifaceted nature and complex economic effects.

Trucking A series of studies make use of public-use truck-level data from the Census’ Vehicle Inventory and Use Surveys to examine how IT has affected the trucking industry. Each of these studies indicates the importance of knowing not just that IT is used, but also the details of the IT and how it is used. These studies examine the impact of two classes of on-board computers (OBCs). Standard OBCs function as trucks’ “black boxes,” recording how drivers operate the trucks. These enable dispatchers to verify how truck drivers drive.

Advanced OBCs also contain capabilities that, among other things, allow dispatchers to determine where trucks are in real time and communicate schedule changes to drivers while drivers are out on the road. These advanced capabilities help dispatchers make and implement better scheduling decisions, and help them avoid situations where trucks and drivers are idle, awaiting their next haul. One of these studies assesses OBCs’ impact on productivity by estimating how much they have increased individual trucks’ utilization rate, as measured by their loaded miles during the time they are in service.  It finds that advanced OBCs have increased truck utilization by 13 percent among trucks that adopt them; overall, this effect implies a three percent increase in capacity utilization industry-wide, which translates to about $16 billion in annual benefits. The vast majority of this increase comes from trucks in the for-hire, long-haul segment of the industry, and most of these returns only began to accrue years after trucking firms first began to adopt OBCs. In contrast, the study finds no evidence that standard OBCs have led to increased truck utilization.

Combined, these results indicate not just the magnitude of IT’s impact on productivity in the industry but also its nature and timing. IT adoption has led to large productivity gains due to advanced OBCs’ real-time communication capabilities, which enable trucking firms to ensure that trucks operating far from their base are on the road and loaded. These gains, however, appear to have lagged adoption by several years.

This implies that IT-enabled improvements in monitoring drivers have led shippers to integrate more into trucking, but IT-enabled improvements in scheduling capabilities have led to more contracting-out of trucking. This systematic difference indicates that whether IT tends to lead to larger, more integrated firms or to smaller, more focused firms depends critically on the new capabilities the IT provides. The second of the two organizational studies is similar: it investigates how OBCs have affected whether drivers own the trucks they operate. 6 Traditionally, “owner-operators” have been an important part of the industry. An advantage associated with owner-operators is that they have strong incentives to drive in ways that preserve their trucks’ value; these incentives have traditionally been far weaker for “company drivers,” who do not own their trucks. This study shows that OBC diffusion has diminished the use of owner-operators. By allowing firms to monitor how drivers drive, OBCs have eliminated an important incentive advantage of owneroperators, and have led trucking firms to subcontract fewer hauls out to such individuals.

Residential Real Estate The Internet vastly increases the amount of information on housing vacancies that is readily available to consumers. Previous research had shown that high costs of information and lack of access to information limited housing searches. The best information available to consumers tended to be for properties near their current location. In addition, research found that information intermediaries such as real estate agents influenced the options that consumers considered. The increased information that the Internet makes available to consumers potentially reduces or eliminates those limits.

Consumers can readily learn about properties far from their current locations, and can do so relatively directly (there still may be some influence exerted in how web sites are set up, for example, and consumers may not immediately, or ever, get to the best web site for their needs). Two recent studies use micro data to assess the effect of using the Internet to search for housing. In these cases, micro data from the public-use Current Population Survey provide basic information on what kinds of consumers use the Internet to search for housing. However, the CPS does not have information about the homes that Internet users purchased.

To address questions about the kinds of homes purchased, the researchers surveyed a sample of recent home purchasers in a county in North Carolina. Characteristics of buyers who used the Internet as a source of information about housing vacancies were generally similar to those of buyers who only used conventional information sources, except that Internet users were younger. The researchers conclude that using the Internet to shop for housing does not seem to effect geographic search patterns, or to lead consumers to pay lower prices for comparable homes.

The jobs might pay higher wages because they require high skill levels. Some IT-using jobs, such as computer programmers and systems analysts, clearly require high skill levels, as do jobs such as architects who use computer-assisted design programs. However, computers appear throughout many workplaces. Workers may use computerized diagnostic equipment and programmable logic controllers, for example, in production applications. Office and service workers may use word processors and spreadsheets, e-mail, computerized billing systems, and so forth.

Such jobs might pay higher wages if using a computer makes a worker with a given skill level more productive, but they generally do not require the workers to know much about principles of programming, or system or network design. Finally, the use of IT may allow computers to substitute for low-skilled workers performing repetitive tasks. Micro data studies in the United States, Europe, and Canada all find that workers using computers at work have much higher wages than workers who do not. The difference typically is on the order of 10 to 20 percent.

However, these studies all used data from a single period, and many of them lack information about other aspects of the job, the worker, and the employer. This makes it hard to determine whether the workers have higher wages because they use a computer, or because important unobserved characteristics of the employer (is it highly productive regardless of the use of computers? ) or the worker (is the worker already highly skilled before using a computer? ) may affect managers’ decisions on investing in computers and R. Palm and M.

This research suggests that IT is associated with substantial wage differentials, but does not cause them. Studies for France and Canada find similar wage differentials. Researchers using French and Canadian micro data also have matched sets of data on employers and workers in those countries, and have two or more years of data. Studies using these matched data all find that substantial cross-section returns to computer use fall sharply when they make use of information about changes in both the worker and employer characteristics.

Estimates differ by country and study, but the final differentials are modest, 1 to 4 percent. These studies also find that the relatively modest wage differential associated with computer use varies markedly across occupations and among workers with different levels of education. For example, a study for Canada finds that more highly educated workers, white-collar workers, and those adopting the computer for scientific applications receive higher than average wage premiums, while other workers do not receive wage premiums when they start using computers on the job. The reasons for such differences remain unresolved.

It may be more costly to teach some groups of workers to use computers, or groups may differ in the proportion of computer training costs that they share with the employer (with lower employer shares resulting in higher wages). The researchers find that controlling for training increases the small or zero wage premiums they otherwise find for many low-skilled groups. They speculate that, if appropriate data were available to test for long-run effects, controlling for training and other worker characteristics might show positive wage differentials for most workers using computers.

For some occupations, the case study found that computers substitute for the routine work that individuals previously performed, reducing the need for such workers. In other occupations, however, computers appear to take on routine tasks and free workers to perform more complex, higher skilled, problem-solving activities. If IT also allows the business to alter the way it works and organize itself more productively, it may raise the skill requirements for all workers in the business, even if they do not directly use computers.

Insights from the International Micro Data Initiative A wave of new literature in plant- or firm-level research on the effects of IT has been conducted in countries participating in the OECD. As with research using U. S. micro data, the micro data research conducted in other countries also find links between IT and productivity. Where information on computer networks is available, or other measures of how computers are used, the research again suggests that it is not just having IT, but how IT is used that effects economic performance measures such as productivity.

Two kinds of studies are being undertaken. Some studies base their research on new data on IT for a single country. They make use of as much information as they can, and choose empirical techniques best suited to their data. Studies such as these contribute important insights, particularly when one country has information that other countries do not, or researchers are able to use techniques that help ensure that the measured effects indeed are due to IT. However, this strength also makes it hard to compare such estimates across countries.

Studies from individual OECD countries find that IT has an impact on productivity and economic performance. Significant effects of IT on productivity are found in the service sector in Germany. Recent research for France finds that one specific kind of network, the Internet, is associated with productivity gains, but other kinds of networks, which have been in use much longer, are not. Canadian research finds that adopting IT is associated with growth in both productivity and market share. Use of computers in Australia also is associated with productivity growth, with effects that vary across industries and are intertwined with other factors, such as the skill of a business’ work force, its organization and re-organization, and its innovativeness.

On the other hand, this kind of coordination makes it more likely that similar empirical findings are actually due to IT, and that differences in empirical findings are due to differences in economic conditions and other factors among countries. An example is a group of researchers conducting parallel analyses for the United States, Denmark, and Japan. Preliminary findings are that IT is positively related to productivity in all three countries, but that the relationship depends on the type of IT used, the sector, and time period.

Early results for Denmark show a significant correlation between several measures of the firm’s performance and use of the Internet, but not for other uses of IT. For Japan, productivity levels are consistently higher for firms using IT networks. However, growth in labor productivity varies by type of network and how the network is used, and the effect of Internet use is higher for retail trade firms than for manufacturing firms. For U. S. manufacturing plants, there is a strong relationship between use of computer networks and labor productivity. Better Micro Data Research Requires Better Micro Data.

Because the micro data are typically collected for other purposes, such as constructing key economic indicators, we almost always find that they lack some (often, much) of the information needed to address questions such those about the pervasiveness of IT and its effect. These gaps simply do not allow us to draw firm conclusions about the effect of IT. For example, research exploring the micro-level link between IT and economic performance may not always be able to separate the role of IT from other related but unobserved characteristics of the plant.

The divergent findings in the resulting empirical literature on the effects of IT are likely related to these data gaps, and to differences in the techniques researchers use to try to deal with them. 33 One way to improve the micro data available for research would be by better integrating aggregate economic indicators and their underlying micro data. It currently is not always easy to reconcile movements in the aggregate statistics with changes observed in the micro data. Aggregate indicators often are constructed from multiple micro data sources, and different sources of data for any concept (such as employment or payroll) may disagree.

Collecting more of the data underlying aggregate statistics in ways that enrich their value as micro data, such as using common sampling frames and keeping information that allows linkage of same economic unit over time and across surveys, would improve both the micro data and our ability to understand changes in the aggregate economic indicators. Conclusion Micro data research conducted in the United States and in OECD countries shows that IT is related to economic performance and productivity. Careful research also shows that the relationships are complex.

IT emerges as a multifaceted factor. The kind of IT that is used and how it is used appear to matter in many (but not all) settings, including the ownership structure of trucking markets, the relative dynamism of retailing, and the relative risk taking and innovativeness of manufacturing sectors across countries. At the same time, the use of IT alone does not appear to be enough to affect economic performance. When researchers have information about the characteristics of businesses, workers, jobs, and markets, they find that IT appears to work instead in tandem with those factors.

RDCs offer qualified researchers restricted access to confidential economic data collected by the Census Bureau in its surveys and censuses. CES and the RDCs conduct, facilitate, and support research using micro data to increase the utility and quality of Census Bureau data products. The best way for the Census Bureau to assess the quality of the data it collects, edits, and tabulates is for knowledgeable researchers to use micro records in rigorous analyses. Each micro record results from dozens of decisions about definitions, classifications, coding rocedures, processing rules, editing rules, disclosure rules, and so on. Analyses test the validity of all these decisions and uncover the data’s strengths and weaknesses. Research projects at CES and its RDCs are examining how facets of the electronic economy affect productivity, growth, business organization, and other aspects of business performance using both new data collected specifically to provide new information about IT, and existing data. Projects using existing Census Bureau micro data on businesses include McGuckin et al. 998; Dunne, Foster, Haltiwanger and Troske, 2000; Stolarick 1999; and Doms, Jarmin, and Klimek, 2002). Research making use of the new 1999 supplement to the Annual Survey of Manufactures linked to existing Census Bureau micro data include Atrostic and Gates 2001; Atrostic and Nguyen 2002; Haltiwanger, Jarmin, and Schank 2002; and Bartelsman et al. 2002. Research findings from many of these projects are discussed in this chapter. The research also helps the Census Bureau assess what current data collections can say about the electronic economy so that we can more efficiently allocate resources to any new measurement activities.

Explain the economic and political causes underlying the Salem witch Trials? The causes underlying the Salem witch trials has a lot to do with religious practices during the late 17th century. These cases were proven however not to be Just based on religion. Though the church was the power of the state the act of treason and the striping of due process concluded these trials could have been for money and property. When an accused was executed, sometimes that person’s property was given to the state. Another possible underlying cause would be out of spite, or the slaking of someone.

For example an accuser may accuse someone her or she does not Like and they could be executed. It could have started out of religious purposes however it seemed to be more of personal issues. Analyze the role that played In the Salem witch trials? The Role of reverend Paris played was quite Interesting and quite suspicious. Paris served as a justice during the trials but there’s a catch. Two of the allegedly “possessed” girls were related to him. One being his daughter and another who was his niece. Paris was also responsible for “breaking Tuba”.

Otherwise known as questioning until the truth is revealed, Paris struck Tuba with hard questions until she confessed. Whether her confession was true or not, Is not known but Reverend Par’s’ roll Is quite skeptical to me. Evaluate the Significance of who was accused of witchcraft and who the accusers were? Well right off the back people being accused were the Native Americans and slaves. The Native Americans were already believed to be “employees” of the devil. Some people living in Salem even claimed the woods of the new world was the devil’s home. Slaves and Native Americans were not the only ones. W class colleens and people who seemed to be the poorest were being put on trial. These accused were being put on trial by the Upper-class and even farmers were sometimes accusing the poor. Brainstorm and Discuss more recent events that you might label as witch-hunts? Something that I believe is a recent event that could be labeled, as Witch craft would be something about exorcisms and possessions. People, are claiming abnormalities from ghosts or lost ones just as the girls were In the Salem trials. However these cases are not usually brought to court. Instead they are made into TV shows, and OFF for ghosts.

In some ways the Salem witch trials and Ghost hunters are very similar. Both are all claims and technology was and is not advanced enough to detect spirits or contact with the devil. Another event I think could be labeled as “witch hunts” would be the search of information on the illuminant. A group of people who are believed to worship satanic figures Just like the witches. Debate the use of spectral evidence and Tuba’s confession in the trials. What would a modern court do with such evidence? Spectral evidence is a form of evidence based upon dreams and visions.

It was admitted into court during the Salem witch trials by the appointed chief Justice, William Sought. The definition Justifies the use right there, it is invalid and should not be used. This was evidence only the accuser could provide, being dreams, visions, sounds, and other strange things along those lines is not valid or factual enough to prove someone’s innocence. Tuba’s confession in my opinion could not have been Justified as truthful. Firstly she was from Barbados and though she may have been participating in witch like activities is does not mean she cursed the kids.

Secondly she may have Just have confessed to get it over with because the community believed in forgiveness. If spectral evidence was used in court today it would probably be laughed at and the person claiming these visions or whatever would probably be placed in a clinic. Discuss how the witch trials came to an end in Salem and what their consequences were. In your view, were matters resolved fairly? The witch trials came to an end with a realization, that perhaps the accusers were not telling the truth. In 1693 Tuba was proven guilty and sold into slavery.

Over 200 people were accused and 55 were executed, survival usually came from a confession. After realizing the courts were wrong, in 1697 a pubic fasting took place, and in 1702 John Hale gave a powerful apology statement. It wouldn’t be 300 yeas later until the last case was reversed. In my opinion matters were probably as solved as fairly as possible. How I see it was this whole case to our society seems crazy and we think of these accusers and Judges Just as crazy. During the 17th century though, witchcraft was thought to be so real that the inhabitants of a lusciously based community really had no choice but to believe.

Mistakes were made ? Old say yes, but what needs to be looked into is those who were accused out of personal reasons for that was unfair treatment and people were losing loved ones over a claim, Justice was not served fairly then. How and why have different political and social groups competed for influence over society and government in what would become the united states? Well our country was Just on its start. In my opinion these groups competed because purpose. That purpose is to live in and make a perfect society, whether it is through elision, law, government or another practice the goal is all the same to live happy.

Take a look at the 18th century in order to understand this competition more. Liberalizes, Nationalists, and Conservatives, all competing against each other to form that golden society. Liberalizes wanted equality and liberty, generally speaking civil rights and freedom. Nationalists this involves individual identifying with a nation, very similar to Patriotism. Conservatives was basing culture aspects based on western civilizations. You see all three want what’s best but Just believe and have different opinions how to do it.

How have Americans agreed or Argued over the Values that guide the political system as well as who is part of the political process? Many Americans believe today’s system is unjust and unfair. Americans have argued over the political system and schemes for years. It seems like the government always has something up its sleeve and its people know that. Like the Salem witch trials, and many other cases family members and friends were working on cases involving loved ones. This didn’t make sense and people argued over that. How much say a person has, the penalties, who and when to speak has all been argued about until a solution was thought of.

The agreeing and Arguing is what essentially shaped the political system into something more fair. How and why have changes in moral, philosophical and cultural values affected US history? Change, comes through one thing experience, and experience can come from mistakes or well doings. These values have all been tested up until now by trial and error. Starting with moral values take a look at punishments for crime. The electric chair and hangings was a way of being punished for a crime, but with research and discovery these methods were found painful and unethical and charges have now differed.

Philosophical values are along the lines of pollution. People have been polluting for centuries and it is now Just taking a toll on our environment and change is being made. Lastly cultural is more along the lines with lets say helping other countries, a few hundred years ago why would we do that? The world is ours, but we have realized we all need each other if we want to survive and live peacefully. So how has this affected United States history, well its simple change in values is what shaped our country today.. Each time a change happens, the previous thing being changed will no longer happen in history again.

Collaboration Assessment Guide Please complete this four part guide and submit for the Collaboration Lesson. Part One: Collaboration lesson/task description Describe the lesson or task you completed collaboratively in a paragraph consisting of five or more sentences. Part Two: Peer and Self Evaluation Rate each member of the team, including yourself, according to each of the performance criteria below. ·3 = above average 2 = average 1 = below average

Student Names|CooperationListened to and respected others and their opinions|ContributionContributed their fair share to the completion of the task or project; fulfilling their assigned duties|ParticipationConsistently spoke up, attended all meetings, fully participated, stayed on task, and offered relevant information|ResponsibilityCompleted all necessary work adequately and on time without needing reminders|FeedbackOffered appropriate and adequate feedback when necessary| |||||| ||||| |||||| |||||| |||||| |||||| Part Three: Self-Reflection Respond to the following in two to three sentences each. What did you enjoy most about working with others on this lesson/task? Explain. How did your team deal with conflict? Explain. Do you feel others were happy with your participation in the lesson/task? Explain. What will you do differently, if anything, in your next online collaboration opportunity? Explain. Additional comments: Part Four: Evidence

Provide evidence of collaboration in the space below or in a separate document. Examples of evidence include, but are not limited to, the following: ·Link to the team wiki, blog, Voicethread, or other web 2. 0 tool ·Copy and paste below, attach, or provide a screen shot of the discussion thread from the blog, wiki, discussion area, instant message, email, etc. ·Copy and paste or attach team project plan and final project ·Any other specific evidence as listed with the collaboration lesson or task you completed

Hearsay is a testimony given in which the witness does not directly hear or experience what he or she is giving testimony to. In that case, the testimony being declared is hearsay because what is being asserted was not experienced first hand by the declarant, and therefore cannot really testify if it happened or not because the information came from someone else. This brings complications because the original or first-hand witness is not present in the court, and thus, cannot be cross-examined, or thoroughly scrutinized. For this reason, hearsay is generally unaccepted as evidence in the US court system, especially in criminal cases.

But as with all rules, there are exemptions to it as well. There are instances when hearsay is the only way to present a certain piece of evidence. For example, if the original witness has passed away, then presenting hearsay testimony is the only available course of action. In this case, the court must consider the hearsay evidence Some common exemptions are dying declarations or a statement made while the person is dying; declarations against interest or when the person testifies to something that may cause some negative effect on the witness. . How has the Crawford vs. Washington case impacted the admissibility of hearsay evidence in criminal trials? The case of Crawford vs. Washington is a landmark court decision which necessitated the need redraw the rules guiding the use of hearsay evidence. The Supreme Court overturned the decision of the Washington Supreme Court and upheld the decision of the Washington Court of Appeals to reverse Michael Crawford’s conviction for assault and attempted murder against Kenneth Lee.

The case revolved around whether Susan’s recorded statements in the police station would be admissible as evidence against her husband. Under court rules, spouses are not allowed to testify against their partner, without the express permission of the suspect, or if the spouse is the complainant in the case. In Crawford vs. Washington, the plaintiff presented the court with Susan Crawford’s testimony in front of the police; the defense argued that this evidence cannot be accepted because Michael, the suspect, cannot confront the testimony because Susan, as his spouse, cannot stand witness in his trial.

The court denied the defense’s petition and accepted Susan’s recorded statement made to the police where she said that Kenneth was not holding a weapon at that time. This testimony shattered the defense’s not guilty plea by virtue of self-defense, and Michael was convicted of the crime. The element of hearsay in this case lies in the fact that Susan’s recorded testimony is presented by the police, and Susan cannot be presented in court to corroborate or refute the statement because as Michael’s wife, she cannot do so.

In this case, the Supreme Court overturned the conviction because Michael’s right to confront the witnesses testifying against him was denied. Based on this, the Supreme Court decided to strike out Susan’s recorded statement, and thus, there was insufficient evidence to convict Michael, and he was exonerated. 3. Discuss some of the situations where the exclusionary rule does not apply, despite the commission of some constitutional violation by the government. The Exclusionary Rule holds that any evidence that is gathered through unlawful or unconstitutional means will not hold in any criminal trial.

Particularly, any evidence that is gathered through self-incrimination under duress or ignorance, and unlawful searches and seizures will not be recognized by any criminal court in the United States. The Exclusionary Rule is one of the principal ways to enforce a system of checks and balances within the US court system. This prevents any abuse or misuse from taking place. This rule is the reason why police are mandated by law to inform suspects of their Miranda Rights, especially when they will be detained and interrogated.

If the Miranda warning was not explicitly given, then any statements made during the ensuing interrogation will not be considered by the court. Of course there are exclusions to the Exclusionary Rule as well. The Exclusionary Rule is very specific only in so far as establishing the guilt or innocence of the suspect is concerned. This evidence can still be presented in order to question the reliability or honesty of the defendant’s testimony. Another exclusion is called the inevitable discovery doctrine.

This doctrine argues that there are some pieces of evidence, gathered though an unlawful search, that would have eventually been discovered by elements of the law in the normal course of their investigation. This assumption maintains that the evidence would have been found; and that it is only a matter of time before it is discovered. There are also many cases wherein the exclusionary law may be challenged, depending on the circumstances that led to the unlawful search. 4. Discuss the Fifth Amendment privilege against self incrimination and some of the various situations where it does not apply.

The Fifth Amendment ensures the privilege of an accused to refuse to answer questions that might further incriminate or be used against him. This right can be invoked at any given time; during investigation, up until the final deliberation of the case. The Fifth Amendment can only be invoked during a direct questioning or interrogation. This right against self-incrimination protects the individual from saying something that might further damage his or her case. There are cases when the individual may choose to disclose what he or she knows about a particular case in exchange for immunity.

The government often uses this to bait the “bigger fishes”, for example in a criminal ring or network. In order to gather valuable information that would lead to more indictments, law enforcers offer immunity against criminal persecution. They may also be entered into the witness protection program to ensure the witnesses and their families’ safety. 5. Discuss the four major tests that govern the admissibility of confessions in criminal trials. The Fifth Amendment prevents and protects suspects from making self-incriminating statements, and because of this, the US courts do not accept confessions at face value.

Before accepting confessions as evidence in a court case, it must pass a four-pronged test made to establish if the confession was indeed given voluntarily; without threat or coercion of any kind. The first test asks whether the statement was given voluntarily or not. This establishes the circumstances surrounding the act of confession. The second determines if the confession was given in spite of being given the Miranda warning. This means that the confession was given in full deliberation, and acceptance of the consequences of his confession.

The third test finds out if any sort of waiver was issued by the suspect. Finally, the fourth determines if the waiver, if there is one, is clear and unambiguous, without any room for double meaning or misinterpretation. In this case, a waiver refers to a document or a recorded statement that certifies that the suspect is relinquishing his/her legal rights and is giving a full confession. However, this waiver presupposes a thorough understanding of one’s rights before these rights can actually be waived. If the suspect is not capable of such discernment, then the confession might be disputed. . How do some of the rules of evidence limit or even frustrate “the search for the truth? ” Discuss the operation of these rules and their impact on “justice. ”

The basic prerequisite of any case is being able to present enough evidence to determine if the suspect is guilty beyond reasonable doubt. If the evidence fails to show guilt beyond reasonable doubt, then the suspect should be acquitted. In a criminal case, the prosecutor has the burden of proof; meaning that the defense is not required to present any evidence if the prosecutor failed to make their case in the first place.

As such, being able to present material evidence is important for “justice”. The problem is that sometimes, the rules governing the admissibility of evidence prevents the truth from coming out, and impairs the fair disposal of justice. However, it is a fair trade. The rules of evidence ensure that the rights of the accused are protected, even as the rights of the innocent are upheld. It is not foolproof, but it is the best arrangement that can be made under the circumstances; a compromise to balance the rights of everyone involved.

Concise Summary of Case – Anthony Tan was one of the most wanted men as he was allegedly charged for murder of Bosnian refugee and Rebels bikie, Edin “Boz” Smajovic. After 2 years building an export business in Vietnam, he read a media report from NSW, describing him as one of the state’s most wanted men. He was unaware for 2 years of the police hunt for him. He immediately got on the phone, first his lawyer, then to an airline. He was more than willing to return to Australia to fight his allegations.

In the end he was arrested and charged for the murder and held on remand in prison for over a year. When he granted bail in August, his trial was to start that same week. Both Anthony Tan and co-accused Nathan Keith Reddy and taken to court. Once the case reached the Supreme Court, the case was dismissed even before the trial had started. This was because, it was understood that the case failed partly due to an alleged confession from a prosecution witness. Jurisdictions of all courts involved –

The two courts involved in this case were the Central Local Court and the Supreme Court. The jurisdictions for the local court include the majority of criminal, summary prosecutions in NSW and with civil matters up to $100,000. It also conducts committal proceedings to determine whether or not indictable offences are to be committed to the District and Supreme Court. Meanwhile the jurisdictions for the Supreme Court has unlimited civil jurisdictions and handles claims of more than $750,000. It also deals with the most serious criminal matters, including murder and treason.

The initial court for this case (Central Local Court) had refused bail, but when it reached the Supreme Court, the case was dismissed even before the trail had even started. Area of law – The Anthony Tan case was a public, criminal case, as Anthony allegedly broke the criminal law, which is part of the public law (also known as the Common law). The standard of proof is the amount of evidence which a plaintiff or prosecuting attorney, in a criminal case, must be presented in a trial in order to win.

As for a civil case the standard of proof is generally that the plaintiff must prove this case by majority (51%) of the evidence. The standard of proof for this case was it was beyond reasonable doubt. The standard of proof needed for a criminal case is that there must be no reasonable doubt that the defendant committed the crime in order to convict the defendant. The standard of proof in this criminal case, which resulted in the freedom of Mr. Tan, was an alleged confession from a prosecution witness, which led to the case to fail.

Was a jury used? Why or why not? – A jury is usually used in the Supreme Court, but the Supreme Court judge had dismissed the case on technical terms, therefore a jury was not needed. It was an interesting case due to the fact that Tan was innocent yet held in jail for more than 1 year. This had a major impact on Anthony Tan’s life, reputation and his future. For a case that would of continued in the Supreme Court, a jury would have been selected, but due to the fact that the case was dismissed, a jury was not needed.

Is a jury effective? – A jury is a group of citizens (usually of 12) who hears the testimony in legal disputes and determines what they believe is the truth. The word jury is derived from the French word jurer, which means, “to swear an oath. ” The jury has generally been successful because their peers judge the accused and the public plays a role in the criminal justice system, as they make the community feel as though they have a voice in situations that concern society at large.

The jury is there to represent a cross-section of society and they provide a range of perceptions. Also the responsibility for the verdict is spread across 12 jurors and the system acts as a safety net against corrupt and oppressive conduct by state and/or police force. The jury is also carefully selected to avoid bias, prejudice, racist, sexist or any other form of discrimination, which can influence the verdict. Also the defense council can remove a juror, if they feel uncomfortable with them being in the jury.