Regional policy in the EC

On December 31, 1973 ends the first phase of the gradual realisation of an economic and monetary union which the EC-states undertook to form between themselves¹. Till then the Ministerial Council will still have to take a number of basic decisions, which are regarded as essential for a succesful conclusion of the first phase.     

Schmerzen individuell behandeln

Zusammenfassung  Patientenkontrollierte Analgesie (PCA) — Nachweislich leiden viele Patienten unter postoperativen Schmerzen. Die aktuelle S3-Leitlinie (Leitlinien der h?chsten Qualit?tsstufe) fordert deshalb: „Die systemische Pharmakotherapie muss dem individuellen Schmerzempfinden des Patienten angepasst werden. Eine Standardtherapie ist nicht sinnvoll.“ Dieses PflegeKolleg ist ein gemeinsames Projekt der Redaktion Heilberufe und des Instituts für Innovation und Beratung der Evangelischen Fachhochschule Berlin – mit freundlicher Unterstützung der Janssen Cilag GmbH.     

R&D and marketing productivities from cross-sectional data: A study of German chemical corporations

Abstract
The adoption of EC-regulations in German law on annual corporate reporting has introduced two new formats for profit and loss statements. Using this newly available data from a sample of German chemical companies, production functions are estimated with sales as an output measure, and R&D and marketing as input measures. It is shown that these factors are peripheral rather than complete substitutes. Marginal productivities of the factors imply the opportunity for relative increases of R&D expenditure over marketing expenditure.     

Oil Market at a Turning Point?

Crude oil prices have fallen markedly during recent months, so much so that the OPEC countries finally took action and resolved to curb production levels. Is the oil market becoming accustomed to ongoing geopolitical risks, and are oil price developments now being more strongly determined by fundamental market data once again?     

Macroeconomic policies and performance in Latin America

This paper provides new evidence on macroeconomic policies and results in Latin America and the Caribbean. Results are: (i) credibility allows adoption of counter-cyclical macroeconomic policies; (ii) accuracy in meeting inflation targets depends on central bank independence and country risk; (iii) intermediate exchange rate (ER) regimes have become less persistent; (iv) ER regimes matter for inflation and growth; (v) real ER trends are not explained by productivity growth and supply reforms do not resolve real ER misalignments; (vi) financial integration has increased significantly; (vii) foreign shocks are a major growth determinant; and (viii) composition of foreign capital inflows matters for growth.     

The Power of Networks: Integration and Financial Cooperative Performance

Abstract ** :  The purpose of this paper is to perform a cross‐country survey of the level of integration of systems of financial cooperatives (FC) and its effect on measures of performance. We develop a classification scheme based on a theoretical framework that builds on published work using transaction cost economics (TCE) to explain integration of large numbers of financial cooperatives into networks. We identify three critical levels of increasing integration we call respectively atomized systems, consensual networks and strategic networks. Further, we test some of the propositions that result from the theoretical framework on an international sample of financial cooperative systems. Based on this analysis we can conclude that: (i) Integration is less (more) important in developing (more developed) countries and for very small (large) financial cooperatives as a determinant of efficiency. However, integration tends to reduce volatility of efficiency and performance regardless of development. (ii) Integration appears to help control measure of managers' expense preferences that tend to affect performance of FC. (iii) Despite high costs of running hub‐like organizations in highly integrated system, these systems economize in bounded rationality and operate at lower costs than less integrated systems.     

Market Channels,Quality Incentives and Contract Harvesting: The Case of Maize,Soybean and Groundnut

The development of markets for maize, soybean and groundnut over the last ten years has been characterised by increasing commercialisation and increasing market differentiation, because of the diversity of end uses. Research conducted by the Department of Agriculture in 1987 and 1988 confirmed earlier findings that commercialisation has not led to opportunities at farm level to expand returns through quality improvement. At trader and factory levels, though, the market rewards qualities required for specific end uses. Findings clearly indicate that market development is commodity specific and that generalisation across the three crops encounters difficulties. The significance of imports was found to be different among the three crops. The role of contract harvesting varies independently of the degree of commercialisation; its extent is important in identifying who benefits from post-harvest research. The informal sector was found to be of particular importance in soybean. It was concluded that the only external intervention which would increase farm income was the introduction of specific varieties, which find market rewards from specific users. Large grain size is rewarded in groundnut, while the tahu and tempe industries both require specific soybean varieties.