@phdthesis{Nell2007, author = {Nell, Mathias}, title = {Three Essays on Anti-Corruption Legislation and Reform}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:739-opus-11986}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Passau}, year = {2007}, abstract = {In Section I disadvantages are identified that traditional measures as repression, prevention and transparency inhere in and that put their clout for the fight against corruption in question. Against this background, three novel anti-corruption approaches are developed. Their conception is motivated by the fact that bribe agreements are particularly characterized by a high risk of opportunism. Double-dealing, whistle-blowing and extortion are uncertainties that corrupt actors are in many cases exposed to. Legislation has to account for this in order to avoid being abused for the enforcement of bribe agreements. What is more, legislation can also take advantage of these chinks to fight corruption effectively. In Section II it is demonstrated in a formal-theoretical manner how the instrument of a voluntary disclosure program can be applied strategically to break the pact of silence between a bribe-taker and a bribe-giver and to simultaneously further opportunism. It is shown that a bribe-taker should be penalized less for taking bribes and more for reciprocating a bribe. Accordingly, leniency should be conceded to a bribe-taker only if he reports his misconduct after having obtained a bribe. Likewise, it is pointed out that a bribe-giver should be punished for giving a bribe, but not for accepting the bribe-taker's reciprocity. Self-reporting should result in leniency only if a bribe-giver was successful in obtaining the requested favor. Ultimately it is stated that leniency itself can become the biggest deterrence for corrupt actors. The formal-theoretical findings in Section III result in policy recommendations for voluntary disclosure programs. For this purpose the Turkish Penal Code and the provisions of the United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC) are used as benchmarks. In addition, the respective legal provisions from 56 countries are studied. The cross-section analysis suggests that the elements of active and passive bribery are largely part of penal codes, in stark contrast to voluntary disclosure programs. Less than half of the 56 countries make use of this instrument, and even only three do so for passive bribery. The cross-section analysis therefore shows significant deficits in the implementation but also in the design of voluntary disclosure programs. In contrast to the preceding sections, Section IV is devoted to civil law and its function for preventing corruption. Particularly, nullity and voidability of contracts induced by means of bribery are analyzed. It is stated that both nullity and voidability run counter to effective anti-corruption. Therefore, it is argued that contracts induced by means of bribery should be valid. Furthermore, it is expounded that other (civil law) instruments are more suitable for preventing corruption. Section V concludes.}, subject = {Korruption}, language = {de} } @misc{OPUS4-88, title = {Universit{\"a}tsbibliothek Passau: Jahresbericht 2006}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:739-opus-8615}, year = {2007}, abstract = {Jahresbericht der Universit{\"a}tsbibliothek Passau - Berichtsjahr 2006.}, subject = {Passau / Universit{\"a}tsbibliothek / Bericht}, language = {de} } @unpublished{Kreitmeier2007, author = {Kreitmeier, Wolfgang}, title = {Optimal quantization of probabilities concentrated on small balls}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:739-opus-12010}, year = {2007}, abstract = {We consider probability distributions which are uniformly distributed on a disjoint union of balls with equal radius. For small enough radius the optimal quantization error is calculated explicitly in terms of the ball centroids. We apply the results to special self-similar measures.}, subject = {Maßtheorie}, language = {en} } @unpublished{Kreitmeier2007, author = {Kreitmeier, Wolfgang}, title = {Asymptotic order of quantization for Cantor distributions in terms of Euler characteristic, Hausdorff and Packing measure}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:739-opus-7374}, year = {2007}, abstract = {For homogeneous one-dimensional Cantor sets, which are not necessarily self-similar, we show under some restrictions that the Euler exponent equals the quantization dimension of the uniform distribution on these Cantor sets. Moreover for a special sub-class of these sets we present a linkage between the Hausdorff and the Packing measure of these sets and the high-rate asymptotics of the quantization error.}, subject = {Maßtheorie}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Stingl2006, author = {Stingl, Christian}, title = {Realisierung einer Server based Computing-L{\"o}sung}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:739-opus-779}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Passau}, year = {2006}, abstract = {Die Dissertation setzt sich mit dem Thema Server based Computing (SbC) im Schulbereich auseinander. Neben den technischen Grundlagen der SbC-Technologie im Vergleich zu den anderen vorherrschenden Technologien (Peer to Peer, Client/Server) wird die Migration zur SbC-Technologie anhand zweier Fallstudien behandelt. Zudem wird f{\"u}r eine ganzheitliche Betrachtung des Themas die wirtschaftliche Vorteilhaftigkeit anhand eines Kosten-Nutzen-Vergleichs ermittelt. Dar{\"u}ber hinaus wird ein Dienstleistungskonzept f{\"u}r die Ausstattung und den Betrieb der schulischen IT-Infrastruktur auf der Basis einer Public-Private-Partnership entwickelt. Als Erweiterung dieses Konzepts wird ein Betreibermodell besprochen, das die Distribution der SbC-Technologie {\"u}ber das Internet durch einen Education Service Provider erm{\"o}glichen soll.}, subject = {Server based Computing}, language = {de} } @phdthesis{DeCarvalho2006, author = {De Carvalho, Vinicius Mariano}, title = {Fora da poesia n{\~a}o h{\´a} salva{\c{c}}{\~a}o - Uma hermen{\^e}utica liter{\´a}ria da poesia de Mario Quintana {\`a} luz da via negativa}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:739-opus-724}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Passau}, year = {2006}, abstract = {Esta tese se ocupa de um tema j{\´a} academicamente estabelecido e com tradi{\c{c}}{\~a}o, um tipo particular de di{\´a}logo entre a teologia e a literatura. A particularidade da tese est{\´a} em elaborar uma hermen{\^e}utica liter{\´a}ria da poesia do brasileiro Mario Quintana, um poeta n{\~a}o religioso, descomprometido com qualquer teologia, com vistas a depreender na mesma um falar religioso apof{\´a}tico. A tese segue ent{\~a}o se ocupando de delimitar os fundamentos do caminho anal{\´i}tico seguido na mesma e os pressupostos seguidos para a interpreta{\c{c}}{\~a}o religiosa da obra de Quintana. O ponto de partida {\´e} a rela{\c{c}}{\~a}o entre o movimento modernista na literatura brasileira, onde se situa a obra de Quintana, com as quest{\~o}es trazidas pelas reflex{\~o}es da Modernidade Filos{\´o}fica, especialmente em rela{\c{c}}{\~a}o {\`a} linguagem, e tamb{\´e}m com a religi{\~a}o dentro deste quadro. A tese, de certa forma sintetiza uma hermen{\^e}utica negativa, nascida de uma teologia apof{\´a}tica redescoberta pela cr{\´i}tica p{\´o}s-estruturalista e efetivamente formulada pelo conceito de "Desconstru{\c{c}}{\~a}o", e que se articula com uma po{\´e}tica tamb{\´e}m negativa, que permite n{\~a}o falar de Deus ou da religi{\~a}o, mas desta mesma forma, falar de algo de religioso que sobrevive na p{\´o}s-modernidade; algo que n{\~a}o se submete {\`a} linguagem, mas se deixa falar pela poesia. Em resumo, pode-se considerar alguns pontos conclusivos desta tese. O primeiro deles {\´e} que a poesia de Mario Quintana pode ser lida religiosamente, mas por sua modernidade, esta poesia e esta leitura n{\~a}o podem ser afirmativas ou categ{\´o}ricas. N{\~a}o se pode querer fazer de Quintana um poeta com mensagem, ou um mero comentador de temas religiosos ou teol{\´o}gicos, apologeticamente. Tampouco {\´e} poss{\´i}vel encontrar em Quintana um tipo de coment{\´a}rio ou explica{\c{c}}{\~a}o da religi{\~a}o em seus poemas. A caracter{\´i}stica de sua poesia {\´e} antes de tudo a abertura de significados. Assim, a tese sustenta que uma hermen{\^e}utica liter{\´a}ria que procure por algo de religioso na poesia de Mario Quintana deve partir de um pressuposto de ser uma hermen{\^e}utica {\`a} luz da via negativa, que proceda como uma "desconstru{\c{c}}{\~a}o" do discurso religioso, que vise mais ao sil{\^e}ncio que {\`a} fala, que leia no espa{\c{c}}o em branco, na margem do texto, que se preencha nos interst{\´i}cios do poema, que recuse o afirmativo e o dogm{\´a}tico.}, subject = {Hermeneutik / Literatur}, language = {de} } @phdthesis{Tegtmeyer2004, author = {Tegtmeyer, Jan C.}, title = {Die {\"O}konomik der Reputation}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:739-opus-600}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Passau}, year = {2004}, abstract = {Gegenstand dieser Arbeit ist die Betrachtung der Reputation eines Unternehmens aus {\"o}konomischer Sicht. Die Zusammenfassung von Beurteilungen der Unternehmensaktivit{\"a}ten durch wirtschaftlich relevante Interessengruppen bildet eine Unternehmensreputation. Die Reputation wird hier mit einem betriebswirtschaftlichen Kosten-Nutzen Kalk{\"u}l betrachtet. Nur mit einer Reputation, die durch eine vorteilhafte Beurteilung der Unternehmensleistung entsteht, kann ein Unternehmen wirtschaftliche Vorteile generieren. Bei anderen Unternehmen kann es zu Ertragseinbußen kommen, wenn ihre wirtschaftliche Leistung negativ wahrgenommen wird. Die Genese der {\"o}konomischen Reputation erfolgt durch den Reputationstr{\"a}ger, d.h. im Unternehmen. Um die Werttreiber einer {\"o}konomischen Reputation zu identifizieren, werden sowohl die operative Struktur des Reputationstr{\"a}gers als auch verschiedene Facetten einer Kommunikation von reputationsrelevanten Unternehmensaktivit{\"a}ten diskutiert. Der Einsatz f{\"u}r den Aufbau und Erhalt einer Unternehmensreputation wird mit der Verwirklichung von Wettbewerbsvorteilen {\"o}konomisch realisiert. Hier werden explizite Vorteile, die einer {\"o}konomischen Reputation direkt zurechenbar sind, definiert, die um implizite Vorteile erg{\"a}nzt werden. Die Akzeptanz einer {\"o}konomischen Reputation in der strategischen Unternehmensf{\"u}hrung h{\"a}ngt von ihrem Beitrag zum Unternehmenserfolg ab. Die in dieser Arbeit gef{\"u}hrte Diskussion von ausgew{\"a}hlten strategischen F{\"u}hrungselementen, wie Investitionskriterien und Wettbewerbsbedingungen, konzentriert sich auf die Realisation einer wirtschaftlich vorteilhaften Unternehmensreputation.}, subject = {Aristoteles / Oeconomica}, language = {de} } @phdthesis{Ramsauer2005, author = {Ramsauer, Markus}, title = {Energie- und qualit{\"a}tsbewußte Einplanung von periodischen Prozessen in eingebetteten Echtzeitsystemen}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:739-opus-628}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Passau}, year = {2005}, abstract = {Mobile Ger{\"a}te dienen immer h{\"a}ufiger zur Ausf{\"u}hrung von Echtzeitanwendungen, sie bieten immer mehr Rechenleistung und sie werden kleiner und leichter. Hohe Rechenleistung erfordert jedoch sehr viel Energie, was im Gegensatz zu den geringen Akkukapazit{\"a}ten, die aus der Forderung nach kleinen und leichten Ger{\"a}ten resultieren, steht. Bei der Echtzeiteinplanung von Rechenprozessen gewinnt daher der Energieverbrauch der Ger{\"a}te neben der rechtzeitigen Beendigung von Anwendungen zunehmend an Bedeutung, weil sie m{\"o}glichst lange unabh{\"a}ngig vom Stromnetz betrieben werden sollen. Andererseits werden auf diesen Ger{\"a}ten rechenintensive Anwendungen ausgef{\"u}hrt, bei denen es w{\"u}nschenswert ist, die maximale mit der verf{\"u}gbaren Rechenleistung erzielbare Qualit{\"a}t zu erhalten. In dieser Arbeit wird ein Systemmodell vorgestellt, das den Design-to-time-Ansatz mit den M{\"o}glichkeiten der dynamischen Leistungsanpassung (Rechenleistung und verbrauchte elektrische Leistung) moderner Prozessoren vereinigt. Der Design-to-time-Ansatz erm{\"o}glicht Energieeinsparungen oder Qualit{\"a}tssteigerungen durch die dynamische Auswahl alternativer Implementierungen, welche dieselbe Aufgabe mit unterschiedlicher Ausf{\"u}hrungsdauer und Qualit{\"a}t bzw. Energieverbrauch erf{\"u}llen. Das Systemmodell umfaßt unter anderem periodische Prozesse mit harten Echtzeitbedingungen, Datenabh{\"a}ngigkeiten und alternativen Implementierungen, sowie Prozessoren mit diskreten Leistungsstufen. Die Einplanung der Prozesse erfolgt in zwei Phasen. In der Offline-Phase wird ein flexibler Schedule berechnet, der f{\"u}r die zur Laufzeit m{\"o}glichen Kombinationen von verstrichener Zeit und noch einzuplanender Prozeßmenge den jeweils einzuplanenden Prozeß, sowie die zu verwendende Implementierung und gegebenenfalls die einzustellende Leistungsstufe beinhaltet. Dieser flexible Schedule wird w{\"a}hrend der Online-Phase mit vernachl{\"a}ssigbarem Zeit- und Energieaufwand von einem Scheduler interpretiert. F{\"u}r die Berechnung der optimalen flexiblen Schedules wurde ein Optimierer entwickelt, der eine Folge von flexiblen Schedules mit monoton steigender G{\"u}te (niedriger Energieverbrauch bzw. hohe Qualit{\"a}t) generiert, und damit der Klasse der Anytime-Algorithmen zuzuordnen ist. Eine Variante der Dynamischen Programmierung dient zur Bestimmung global optimaler, flexibler Schedules, die beispielsweise als Basis f{\"u}r Benchmarks dienen. Eine auf Simulated Annealing basierende Variante des Optimierers erm{\"o}glicht ein schnelleres Auffinden guter, flexibler Schedules f{\"u}r umfangreichere Anwendungen.}, subject = {Echtzeitsystem}, language = {de} } @phdthesis{Raitner2005, author = {Raitner, Marcus}, title = {Efficient visual navigation of hierarchically structured graphs}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:739-opus-658}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Passau}, year = {2005}, abstract = {Visual navigation of hierarchically structured graphs is a technique for interactively exploring large graphs that possess an additional hierarchical structure. This structure is expressed in form of a recursive clustering of the nodes: in call graphs of telephone networks, for instance, the nodes are identified with phone numbers; they are clustered recursively through the implicit structure of the numbers, e. g., nodes with the same area code belong to a cluster. In order to reduce the complexity and the size of the graph, only those subgraphs that are currently needed are shown in detail, while the others are collapsed, i. e., represented by meta nodes. In such a graph view the subgraphs in the areas of interest are expanded furthest, whereas those on the periphery are abstracted. As the areas of interest change over time, clusters in a view need to be expanded or contracted. First and foremost, there is need for an efficient data structure for this graph view maintenance problem. Depending on the admissible modifications of the graph and its hierarchical clustering, three variants have been discussed in the literature: in the static case, everything is fixed; in the dynamic graph variant, only edges of the graph can be inserted and deleted; finally, in the dynamic graph and tree variant the graph additionally is subject to node insertions and deletions and the clustering may change through splitting and merging of clusters. We introduce a new variant, dynamic leaves, which is based on the dynamic graph variant, but additionally allows insertion and deletion of graph nodes, i. e., leaves of the hierarchy. So far efficient data structures were known only for the static and the dynamic graph variant, i. e., neither the nodes of the graph nor the clustering could be modified. As this is unsatisfactory in an interactive editor for hierarchically structured graphs, we first generalize the approach of Buchsbaum et. al (Proc. 8th ESA, vol. 1879 of LNCS, pp. 120-131, 2000), in which graph view maintenance is formulated as a special case of range searching over tree cross products, to the new dynamic leaves variant. This generalization builds on a novel technique of superimposing a search tree over an ordered list maintenance structure. With an additional factor of roughly O(log n/log log n), this is the first data structure for the problem of graph view maintenance where the node set is dynamic. Visualizing the expanding and contracting appropriately is the second challenge. We propose a local update scheme for the algorithm of Sugiyama and Misue (IEEE Trans. on Systems, Man, and Cybernetics 21 (1991) 876- 892) for drawing compound digraphs. The layered drawings that it produces have many applications ranging from biochemical pathways to UML diagrams. Modifying the intermediate results of every step of the original algorithm locally, the update scheme is more efficient than re-applying the entire algorithm after expansion or contraction. As our experimental results on randomly generated graphs show, the average time for updating the drawing is around 50 \% of the time for redrawing for dense graphs and below 20 \% for sparse graphs. Also, the performance gain is not at the expense of quality as regards the area of the drawing, which increases only insignificantly, and the number of crossings, which is reduced. At the same time, the locality of the updates preserves the user 's mental map of the graph: nodes that are are not affected stay on the same level in the same relative order and expanded edges take the same course as the corresponding contracted edge; furthermore, expansion and contraction are visually inverse. Finally, our new data structure and the update scheme are combined into an interactive editor and viewer for compound (di-)graphs. A flexible and extensible software architecture is introduced that lays the ground for future research. It employs the well-known Model-View-Controller (MVC) paradigm to separate the abstract data from its presentation. As a consequence, the purely combinatorial parts, i. e., the compound (di-)graph and its views, are reusable without the editor front-end. A proof-of-concept implementation based on the proposed architecture shows its feasibility and suitability.}, subject = {Dynamische Datenstruktur}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Schinke2005, author = {Schinke, Michael}, title = {Corruption and Central Banks}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:739-opus-745}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Passau}, year = {2005}, abstract = {Central banks are viewed by the general public as reputable institutions, a perception bolstered by economic theory and modeling. By extension, central bankers are thought of as benevolent, as decent men and women attempting to maximize societal welfare through their decisions. Yet, cases of central bank corruption abound. The dissertation provides examples of "pure" corruption in central banks. Only a few studies address corruption and similar, but not necessarily criminal, behavior of central bank employees and governors, even though corruption in the central bank is obviously possible. By the very nature of their position, central bankers possess a treasure trove of information. Knowledge of possible intervention prices in the foreign exchange market, future interest rates, or the details of new tender offers the central bank intends to make is very valuable information to investment bankers and commercial bankers. Knowing in advance what the central bank will decide enables these other bankers to place sure bets on officially "unexpected" moves of the central bank. It is not the aim of this inquiry into corruption at central banks to stigmatize an institution that is generally held in well-merited regard. Yet, there does exist the possibility that central bankers might become corruptible and engage in deals that surely will benefit themselves but not necessarily the society they are expected to serve. Therefore, the present analysis will conduct thought experiments in the form of theoretical models that are rooted in actual corruption cases at different central banks. These models are used to illustrate the effects a corruptible central banker has on monetary policy. The results from these thought experiments will be used to point out the adverse effects of corruption in a central bank. Two empirical investigations will illustrate that there are indeed discernable effects of central bank corruption on monetary policy. The analysis presented here consists of empirical and theoretical elements. The empirical analysis and the theoretical models are intertwined because the modeling takes actual corruption cases as a starting point. Chapter II. A Corruption Case in the Central Bank of Indonesia, is a case study of a corruption case. This case study provides details of the actual case and the surrounding conditions of the Indonesian economy that favored the corrupt deal. After this empirical qualitative review of an actual case, the first model of a self-seeking and malicious central banker is given in Chapter III. Central Banks in a Corrupt Environment: How Corruption Drives Inflation. Chapter IV introduces a second model of a corrupt central banker, one who sells inside information. Chapter V reports the results of empirical research. It has already been shown by previous empirical research that corruption in general seems to increase the inflation rate. My model of the corrupt central banker provides a new explanation of this effect. Formerly, it was the general conclusion that due to the bigger share of the underground economy in more corrupt societies, the state needs higher seigniorage revenue to generate the necessary income to cover government expenditure. These two theories, that is, that corruption leads to a higher rate of inflation and/or higher seigniorage, will be tested for a cross-section of 80 countries. Chapter VI concludes.}, subject = {Geldpolitik}, language = {de} }