Economic insights and deficits in European biotechnology patent policy

The decisive statutory provision of the EU for patent protection of genetic engineering inventions is the so-called directive on biotechnological patents (DBP). Its objective is the encouragement of research and development in the genetic engineering sector. The following exposition shows that the DBP has two major flaws from the economist's point of view, under which particularly small and medium-sized enterprises, the driving force of this young line of business, suffer.     

Testing and applying a theory of utility: An attempt to decompose income in compensatory and scarcity rents

Data on income after tax, schooling completed, job held, age, and ‘level of satisfaction’ of 2663 members of the Dutch Consumer Union have been used to estimate regression equations of two types. Type I may be called a specification of a utility function, Type II an ‘earnings function’ (where income after tax was used as earnings). For both types a number of alternatives were estimated both with regard to mathematical shape and with regard to variables included. Defining equitable or justified income differences as differences which do not change the level of satisfaction, a formula for equitable incomes for given combinations of job, schooling and age can be derived from Type I equations. All regression coefficients are found to be lower than the corresponding earnings function coefficients. The latter can then be decomposed into a ‘compensatory’ component and a ‘scarcity rent’ component.     

The Tragedy of the Commons Revisited

The Malthus–Hardin tragedy of the commons is formulated as a dynamic game between "clans". At each date a member of a clan desires more newborns of her/his type and more current consumption, harvested from the commons. Equilibrium in the dynamic game yields a steady state level of per capita consumption and a steady population level for each clan (births equal deaths). Four outcomes are obtained, depending on the assumptions about the discount rates of members of a clan and about the mode of competition for "large populations" for each clan. Lack of property rights for agricultural land in the commons leads to equilibrium with excessive populations and low per capita consumption.     

Economic development and the WTO: Back to basics?

Conclusion  An effective WTO is critical for developing countries —the alternatives, bilateral and regional agreements, will give rise to trade diversion and discrimination, and most likely exclude sectors such as agriculture and policies such as antidumping. Developing countries have a strong incentive to put together an agenda that offers potential benefits to OECD countries as well as themselves. The Singapore issues are arguably not necessary to move forward on the market access agenda. There is huge scope to trade “concessions” on tariffs — both applied rates and tariff binding. The same is true for access to service markets. A refocused effort centered on market access, complemented by an emphasis on transparency predictability and reciprocity, could help realize the development promise of the Doha round. The views expressed are personal and should not be attributed to the World Bank.     

Commentary: advancing marketing strategy in the marketing discipline and beyond

ABSTRACT

Shelby Hunt provides an insightful, precise essay on the nature and contribution of the field of marketing across five distinct periods and concludes with a discussion of the potential for the field of marketing, both within marketing and across allied fields of management. This ‘promise’ of marketing’s academic future is followed by a discussion of the key factors likely to play a significant role in lessening the contribution of the field. The purpose of this commentary is to focus on Hunt’s key question regarding Era V: Is the future of the marketing discipline promising or problematic? As such, this commentary addresses four issues: (1) the ‘promising’ assets that the discipline has in play; (2) the slide towards academic irrelevance and, thus, the ‘problem’; (3) Hunt’s observations on how the slide might be reversed; and (4) my viewpoint on what can be done to reverse the slide.     

Unintended Consequences of Forecast Disaggregation: A Multi‐Period Perspective

Prior research finds that investors respond more favorably to a disaggregated earnings forecast than to an aggregated one. The present study examines whether this initial favorable effect on investors’ decisions leads to investors giving management the benefit of the doubt, or backfires in the event of a subsequent earnings surprise announcement. The results of our experiment indicate a “backfire effect” consistent with Expectation Violation Theory. We find that investors’ negative reactions to an earnings surprise are stronger if they first observed a disaggregated forecast than if they first saw an aggregated forecast. The largest downward adjustment in investment interest occurs when the disaggregated forecast is later found to be overstated. This study provides evidence of the complexity of the effect of disaggregated earnings forecast and adds to the literature concerning the costs and benefits of accounting information disaggregation.     

Scenarios and Actors' Strategies:: The Case of the Agri-Foodstuff Sector

The importance of the agricultural market in France prompted BASF to seek out a new way of strengthening relations with its partners in the agrifood sector. In 1996, against a backdrop of change (EU legislation) and upheaval (Mad Cow Disease), BASF offered operations managers or officers of distribution companies an opportunity to reflect upon the future in a workshop setting. This innovative three-stage exercise, guided by Professor Michel Godet (CNAM) and the Gerpa consulting team, met with enthusiasm, and was expanded beyond the original group and time frame. In fact, the distribution chain was opened up to include various actors, for example, consumer advocacy groups, so that we speak of the agri-food channel and sector. Original questions focused on farmers' expectations and distribution problems with specific horizon lines. Environmental and genetic issues soon came to the forefront. Besides workshops and meetings, the Delphi-Régnier Abacus technique was applied, as explained in this step-by-step review of the BASF project. Overall, futures thinking has become part of the BASF France way of doing business. Indeed, the BASF “Futures Studies Group,” expanded to include mass distribution representatives, intends to continue working on the very timely theme of food safety.