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The starting point of literature on the role and importance of economic information is not only the product of academic reflections on productivity and business competitiveness, but also a result of the direct observation, by individuals chiefly and practically interested in economic evolutions, of trends or initiatives already in place in different economic segments or markets. Some common traits are shared between fields that are particular to intelligence-related activities and the economic field: a lack of certainty and the vital need for information. The necessity of competitiveness has always been construed as a desideratum, even though the method for gaining a competitive advantage is something of a controversial topic. In time, loyal competition has always given rise to development and progress. The need to gain access to information has always been acute, as it does not pertain only to modern times, although digitalization and globalization seem to facilitate information-gathering activities. Seeing how humans, capitals, wares, information, ideas and methods have gradually started to circulate freely, while time and distances have steadily faded, economic security and development have become objectives that are tackled all the more carefully and elaborately by regimes and governments that have worked to reinforce their own power.

The case of Peter Humphrey and Yu Yingzeng, convicted in China on August 2014 on charges of unlawful acquisition of personal information of citizens (PIC), raises important issues about Chinese law. A narrow but important issue is how Chinese law draws the line between lawful and unlawful acquisition of information, a practice routinely carried out by businesses and individuals. This article examines the trial transcript and judgment in the Humphrey/Yu case and finds that it sheds regrettably little light on what remains a murky question. The judgment ignored the issue entirely, finding in effect that the collection of PIC was per se unlawful.A broader issue is whether the Chinese legal system can be counted on to operate in a fair and impartial manner. This article presents the results of a study of all reported cases in Shanghai (ninety-two cases) involving the same provision of the Criminal Law that was the basis of the Humphrey/Yu conviction. It finds that the Humphrey/Yu sentences are outliers relative to other cases with comparable facts. In particular, Humphrey’s sentence of thirty months’ imprisonment was by far the heaviest sentence ever meted out by Shanghai courts on this charge, even though the circumstances seem conspicuously less serious than those of many other cases where lesser sentences were imposed, thus lending support to the theory of selective prosecution.

The starting point of literature on the role and importance of economic information is not only the product of academic reflections on productivity and business competitiveness, but also a result of the direct observation, by individuals chiefly and practically interested in economic evolutions, of trends or initiatives already in place in different economic segments or markets. Some common traits are shared between fields that are particular to intelligence-related activities and the economic field: a lack of certainty and the vital need for information. The necessity of competitiveness has always been construed as a desideratum, even though the method for gaining a competitive advantage is something of a controversial topic. In time, loyal competition has always given rise to development and progress. The need to gain access to information has always been acute, as it does not pertain only to modern times, although digitalization and globalization seem to facilitate information-gathering activities. Seeing how humans, capitals, wares, information, ideas and methods have gradually started to circulate freely, while time and distances have steadily faded, economic security and development have become objectives that are tackled all the more carefully and elaborately by regimes and governments that have worked to reinforce their own power. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We examined how much information British and Arab truth tellers and lie tellers volunteer in an initial free narrative. Based on cultural differences in communication styles we predicted that British interviewees would report more details and more complications than Arab interviewees (culture main effect). We further predicted that truth tellers would report more details and complications than lie tellers (veracity main effect), particularly in the British sample (Veracity × Culture interaction effect). A total of 78 British and 76 Israeli-Arab participants took part. The experiment was carried out at a British university and an Israeli university. Participants carried out a mission. Truth tellers were instructed to report the mission truthfully in a subsequent interview whereas lie tellers were asked to lie about certain aspects of the mission. The three hypotheses were supported for details, whereas for complications only the predicted veracity main effect occurred. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Expectancy effects are known to influence behaviour so that what is expected appears to be true. In this study, expectancy was induced using (fabricated) information about honesty and specific group membership. Targets were tested in a non-accusatory interview environment using neutral and information-gathering questions. It was hypothesized that those exposed to the negative information (the expectancy) would demonstrate behaviour consistent with an increased cognitive load, and evidence was found to support this prediction. Due to the investigative nature of the information-gathering questions, it was also expected that the targets exposed to the expectancy would exhibit more of these behaviours in the investigative portion of the interview. Some behaviour was found to support this prediction (i.e. shorter responses and increased speech disturbances); however, indicators of performance altering load were not observed during this phase of the interview. These findings support the hypothesis that expectancy effects can noticeably alter interviewee behaviour. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Scholarship on transparency and freedom of information (FOI) conveys an overwhelmingly “political” narrative. Most uses of FOI, however, are private and nonpolitical in nature. This article explores the gap between the literature and empirical reality by means of an “Information-Gathering Matrix,” a framework for conceptualizing the motivations, uses, and impacts associated with FOI. Following a broad literature review, case studies illustrate that while FOI uses may be multifarious and prima facie nonpolitical, at least three of the matrix’s four quadrants—from the public to the private and the political to the nonpolitical—frequently tend toward politicization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Gathering sufficient information when handling self-medication requests in community pharmacies is an important factor in assisting patients to obtain appropriate health outcomes. Common types of information usually gathered include patient identity, signs and symptoms, action taken, medical history, and current medications being used. The aims of the study were (1) to describe the types and amount of information gathered by Eastern Indonesian community pharmacy staff when handling self-medication requests, and (2) to identify factors associated with the reported amount of information gathered. Methods: Patient simulation and pharmacy staff interviews were used. First, patient simulation was conducted using 2 cough scenarios and 1 diarrhoea scenario. Second, a structured interview was administered to eligible pharmacy staff in the setting. The types and amount of information gathered during patient simulation encounters and reported during pharmacy staff interviews were noted. A regression analysis was performed to identify factors associated with the amount of information gathered from the interview data. Results: The most frequent types of information gathered in patient simulation encounters were the nature of symptoms (88% in one of the cough scenarios) and patient identity (96% in the diarrhoea scenario). Other types of information were gathered in <40% of encounters in each scenario. From the pharmacy staff interviews, >90% of the 173 interviewees reported that they gathered information on patient identity, nature of symptoms, and associated symptoms. Information on medical history and medication used was gathered by 20% and 26% respectively of the 173 interviewees. The majority of pharmacy staff asked 0 to 2 questions in the patient simulation encounters compared to 5 questions pharmacy staff reported as their usual practice during the interviews. Being qualified as a pharmacist or a pharmacy technician was one of the factors positively associated with the reported amount of information gathered. Conclusion: There were deficits in the types of information gathered when pharmacy staff handling self-medication requests. Having a pharmacy educational background and additional work experience in the pharmacy was positively associated with the reported amount of information gathered. There could be other factors contributing to shortcomings in the actual practice which need to be explored. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We examined how much information British and Arab truth tellers and lie tellers volunteer in an initial free narrative. Based on cultural differences in communication styles we predicted that British interviewees would report more details and more complications than Arab interviewees (culture main effect). We further predicted that truth tellers would report more details and complications than lie tellers (veracity main effect), particularly in the British sample (Veracity × Culture interaction effect). A total of 78 British and 76 Israeli-Arab participants took part. The experiment was carried out at a British university and an Israeli university. Participants carried out a mission. Truth tellers were instructed to report the mission truthfully in a subsequent interview whereas lie tellers were asked to lie about certain aspects of the mission. The three hypotheses were supported for details, whereas for complications only the predicted veracity main effect occurred., (© 2020 The Australian and New Zealand Association of Psychiatry, Psychology and Law.)