Institutional Dynamics on the U.S. Court of Appeals: Minority Representation Under Panel Decision Making

This article assesses how the institutional context of decisionmaking on three-judge panels of the federal Court of Appealsaffects the impact that gender and race have on judicial decisions.Our central question is whether and how racial minority andwomen judges influence legal policy on issues thought to beof particular concern to women and minorities when serving onappellate panels which decide cases by majority rule. Properanalysis of this question requires investigating whether womenand minority judges influence the decisions of other panel members.We find that the norm of unanimity on panels grants women influenceover outcomes even when they are outnumbered on a panel.     

U.S. insurance trade

The U.S. has had significant trade deficits in insurance for several years. This paper examines the reasons for such big annual deficits. A large home market, a low reinsurance capacity, and the conservative attitude of U.S. insurers toward foreign markets are identified as the primary contributors to such deficits. The paper also addresses the issue of how U.S. insurers can improve their international competitive position. By expanding their operations abroad, particularly in Mexico and Latin America, and by actively participating in the fast-growing Asian markets, American insurers have their greatest chance to accomplish that objective.     

Factor inputs and U.S. manufacturing trade structure: 1963–1980

Zusammenfassung Faktoreinsatz und Struktur des US-Handels mit Industrieprodukten 1963–1980. — Der Autor analysiert die Determinanten für die Struktur des US-Handels mit verschiedenen Handelspartnern und untersucht, welche strukturellen ?nderungen dieser Beziehungen zwischen 1963 und 1980 stattgefunden haben. Er benutzt ein modifiziertes Faktorproportionen-Modell mit mehreren Produktionsfaktoren und sch?tzt die simultanen Wirkungen von Humankapital, Realkapital, Arbeit und Skalenertr?gen auf die Nettoexporte der USA von Industriegütern. Die Ergebnisse der Regressionen best?tigen in den meisten F?llen — und besonders für die früheren Jahredas Leontief-Paradoxon und Leontiefs Erkl?rung, die die Bedeutung des Humankapitals als Quelle komparativer Vorteile hervorhebt. Ermittelt werden strukturelle Ver?nderungen sowohl für den Globalhandel der USA als auch für den bilateralen Handel mit Japan, Kanada und den Schwellenl?ndern, da diese L?nder alle zwischen 1963 und 1980 bedeutende Handelspartner der Vereinigten Staaten geworden sind.

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Résumé Emploi des facteurs de production et la structure du commerce industriel des Etats Unis: 1963-1980. — Dans cette étude l'auteur analyse les déterminants du commerce des Etats Unis avec de plusieurs partenaires commerciaux et examine quels changements structurels ont eu lieu dans ces relations entre 1963 et 1980. En utilisant un modèle des proportions multi-facteurs, ce modèle mesure l’effet simultané du capital humain et physique, du travail et des économies d’échelle sur les exportations nettes américaines des produits industriels. Dans la plupart des cas et particulièrement pour les années antérieures, ce modèle confirme le ?Leontief Paradox? et son explication qui souligne le r?le du capital humain comme source de l’avantage comparatif. L’auteur découvre des changements structurels dans le commerce global des Etats Unis et aussi dans le commerce bilatéral avec le Japon, le Canada et les nouveaux pays industrialisés parce que tous sont devenus des partenaires importants avec les Etats Unis entre les années 1963 et 1980.

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Resumen Contenido de factores y la estructura del comercio manufacturera de los EE UU: 1963-1980. — En este trabajo se analiza el perfil del comercio de los EE UU con diferentes paises y también se examina qué cambios estructurales tuvieron lugar en estas relaciones entre 1963 y 1980. Utilizando un modelo modificado de proporción de factores múltiples se mide el impacto simultáneo de capital humano, capital fisico, trabajo y de economias de escala sobre las exportaciones manufactureras netas de los EE UU. Los resultados de regresiones confirman casi siempre y especialmente para a∼nos lejanos la paradoja de Leontief y la explication para ella, que enfatiza el papel del capital humano como una fuente de ventajas comparativas. Se detectan cambios estructurales en el comercio global de los EE UU y en el comercio bilateral de los EE UU con el Japón, el Canadá y los NICs, al haber alcanzado todos ellos un importante tráfico comertial con los EE UU entre 1963 y 1980.

     

China's foreign trade policy and world trade organization membership

This paper provides an overview of China's major economic reforms and how they impacted certain key domestic economic indicators such as income, production, employment, and prices. More importantly, the paper concentrates on China's foreign trade focusing on such issues as import and export policies, exchange rate controls, foreign investments, balance of payments, traded commodities, and major trading partners. China's chance of becoming a member of the World Trade Organization is also addressed.     

Socio-Economic Gaps within the EU: A Comparison

This research investigates socio-economic gaps between countries of the European Union (EU). The countries, for comparison purposes, are grouped into five sets to find out if the different groupings differ in means and variances. The overall conclusion is that the 15 core combinations outperform the rest when comparisons are made on the basis of 45 socio-economic variables. However, the newly added countries in the enlargement appear to be fairly homogeneous when compared in accordance with the 45 variables. Of special interest is whether the inclusion of Turkey among the newly admitted would have changed the pattern of homogeneity among them. The answer to this question is a guarded yes.      

The concept of capital before and after industrial revolution： Islamic versus market economy

The concept of capital and ownership of capital in market economy and Islamic economy is different. Also the role that capital is expected to play in the economy is different in two economic systems. One of the key elements in creation of the capital （capital formation） is interest rate. In Islam interest is strictly forbidden. This paper reviews the concept of capital and the process of capital formation both before and after industrial revelation. In that context it also looks at the function of interest rate during the time of Prophet Mohammed and the present time.     

Islamic economics versus market economics： The concept of taxations

Taxation plays a major role in both market economics and Islamic economics. The difference is that in market economics, the tax system has evolved throughout the centuries in order to address the constant change in market-based societies. In Islamic economics, however, the tax system bases on the writings of the Qur＇an and the principles of shariah. As a result, it did not flourish as the needs of Islamic society changed. Therefore, governments in Islamic countries that seek to follow Islamic law are facing major economic challenges. Recently, some Islamic scholars have asserted that Islamic governments can go beyond the explicit instructions of the Qur＇an and impose taxes as needed. They justify their arguments based on the interpretation of Qur＇anic verses. This paper briefly compares both rationality and the methods of taxation in both market economics and Islamic economics, and further elaborates on the shortcomings of the original Islamic tax laws.     

Financial market development and trade openness: evidence from emerging economies

International trade is said to be the engine of economic growth. Despite an enormous effort to explain this phenomenon, the relationship between financial market development and trade openness and integration into the world economy is still an enigma. This article investigates the relationship between financial market development and trade openness. To do this, we develop a long-run and short-run model (a bounds testing approach to cointegration) for 18 emerging economies over the period 1980 to 2011. Estimates from all models show that financial market development, including both the stock market and the banking sector, has significant effect on trade openness in both short-run and long-run phenomena in the majority of countries. Despite many similarities among emerging economies, additional evidence suggests that the link between either stock market development or banking sector development with trade openness works via each country’s specific structure.