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According to indicator models of sexual selection, females can benefit from choosing males with above average epigamic traits, but empirical evidence for such benefits is scarce. Here, we report results from an experiment with 29 pairs of house sparrows (Passer domesticus) where the intensity of nest defense against a mounted mustelid predator was related to the size of the black throat and breast patch ("badge") in males. Using principal components analysis (PCA), original response variables of both sexes were reduced to two factors: "Approach" to the predator and "Distant warning". "Approach", the more risky behavior, increased from small-through medium-to large-badged males and decreased in their females. Since large-badged males have a higher certainty of paternity (i.e. greater benefits from defense) and may be older and more experienced (i.e. incur lower costs), the most likely explanation for male defense intensity increasing with badge size is an improving benefit/cost ratio. The resulting optimal response of their females and evolutionarily stable participation in joint parental care is illustrated by a graphical model. It shows that females would, indeed, benefit directly from choosing large-badged males. This, however, is no proof of a direct evolutionary tie between badge size and paternal behavior, as assumed by indicator models of sexual selection. It may simply represent a spurious relationship, originating from the correlation of badge size and defense with confidence of paternity. HEINZ-ULRICH REYER ET AL. 1 BADGE SIZE SIGNALS MALE PARTICIPATION IN NEST DEFENCE

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Regulatory independence has become an international norm over the past decades. Yet, governments in some emerging and developing economies have eschewed the model. We argue that this outcome is shaped by the domestic institutional context; in particular, authoritarianism and traditions of state control over the economy. Analyzing new data on the adoption and operation of independent competition authorities between 1990 and 2017, we find that authoritarianism and, to some extent, state-led economic traditions negatively affect formal adoption. By contrast, these institutional constraints do not have much impact on the start of the operations, which seems to be driven primarily by capacity and economic need. Our findings shed light on domestic institutional constraints on the spread of international norms and the limits of "regulatory transplants" in the Global South. 1 | INTRODUCTION Over the past decades, the importance of the state as regulator of the economy has increased considerably. Governments around the world have moved away from the model of the "positive