AN ETHICAL ASSESSMENT OF THE USE OF ECONOMIC SANCTIONS AS A TOOL OF FOREIGN POLICY

This paper is the third in a series of articles that examines the shortcomings of economic sanctions. Drawing on Mill's utilitarianism, Kant's categorical imperative and Rawls's theory of justice, the conceptual frameworks of consequentialism, deontology and contractualism are used to demonstrate the unethical nature of this increasingly popular instrument of foreign policy.     

THE ROLE OF PATENTS IN INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES: A SURVEY OF THE LITERATURE

During the last few decades, the number of patents in information and communication technologies has increased considerably. An increasing number of patents and the associated fragmentation of IP rights have generated a series of potentially problematic consequences. Patent thickets, royalty stacking, the emergence of patent assertion entities, increased patent litigation – particularly around standard essential patents – and the difficulties with defining fair, reasonable, and nondiscriminatory licensing terms are some of the most debated issues in the literature that we review in this paper. We devote a specific section of our survey to patent quality, currently one of the most debated issues surrounding the patent system. In our analysis, we mix theoretical and empirical arguments with a more policy‐oriented reasoning. This allows us to better position the different issues in the relevant political and economic context.     

REGIONAL DISPARITIES IN THE PROCESS OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF NIGERIA: A HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE

This paper examines the policy actions of earlier administrators in Nigeria. The account reveals that regional inequalities in the country evolved during the 100 years of British Colonial Administration. Moreover, activities of various ethno-linguistic groups in the country after political independence undoubtedly exacerbated the situation. The paper concludes that the major structural changes in agriculture, transportation and education initiated by the British during the colonial period: (a) had profound effects on the evolution of regional disparities; and (b) established an important basis for further development of the country. Nonetheless, activities of post-independence administrators have perpetuated and even aggravated the regional and individual socio-economic disparities in the country.     

中国传播“核动力” “2004中国年度传播榜中榜”揭晓

<正>中国传播已经迎来了新的发展拐点,需要核裂变的催动力。——丁俊杰致开幕词每个人都是受众,但我们知道最有价值的传播是什么? 2005年4月15日,中国传播盛世之夜。4月流光异彩, 由《经营者》杂志主办的“2004中国年度传播榜中榜”评选结果在北京国际会议中心揭晓。自2005年开始,《经营者》杂志协同中国传媒大学新闻传播学院、广告导报杂志社、中央电视台的强势机构联手缔     

STRATEGY DEVELOPMENT AS A SOCIAL PROCESS

This article argues that the development of strategy in organizations will be more effective if it is seen as predominantly a social rather than analytical process. Using the notion of organizations as negotiated order, it is suggested that designed Group Decision Support Systems can play an important role in facilitating the negotiation of strategy. Six ‘support systems’are discussed, and the implication is that planners might see themselves as facilitators managing both ‘socially negotiated order’and ‘negotiated social order'.     

THE ROLE OF SUPPLY CONSTRAINTS IN MULTIPLIER ANALYSIS

Multiplier analysis based upon the information contained in Leontief's inverse is undoubtedly part of the core of the input–output methodology and numerous applications and extensions have been developed that exploit its informational content, both at the national and regional levels. Nonetheless there are some implicit theoretical assumptions whose policy implications need to be assessed. This is the case for the ‘excess capacity’ assumption, which implies that resources are available as needed to adjust production to new equilibrium states. In an actual economy, however, new resources are often scarce and always costly. When supply constraints intervene, the assessment of the effects of government demand policies may be substantially different from that of the standard Leontief multiplier matrix. Using a closed general equilibrium model that incorporates supply constraints, we perform some simple numerical exercises and proceed to derive two ‘constrained’ multiplier matrices, based upon the implicit Jacobian matrix, that can be compared with the standard ‘unconstrained’ Leontief matrix.     

AGRICULTURAL POLICY AS A SOCIAL ENGINEERING TOOL: A NEW JERSEY CASE STUDY

This study uses logistic regression to examine the preferences for social engineering policies in the agricultural sector in a New Jersey case study. It finds that farm operators are unlikely to support a policy allowing countries to restrict trade to pursue domestic economic and social policy goals if the policies affect international trade. In particular, it suggests that farm operators with annual gross sales including government payments between $500 000 and $999 999 are 80 percent less likely to indicate such a preference. Farm operators with advanced degrees, some college education, and a high school diploma are also unlikely to indicate such a preference. In contrast, farm operators who receive no income from farming or ranching and those who receive a percentage of family income from farming or ranching indicate that countries should be allowed to restrict trade to pursue domestic economic and social policy goals even if the policies affect international trade.     

CLUSTERING OF THE URBAN FIELD AS A PRECONDITION FOR SUSTAINABLE POPULATION GROWTH IN PERIPHERAL AREAS: THE CASE OF ISRAEL

Analysis of the development of urban communities suggests that sustainable population growth is based on a settlement's ability to attract and retain residents, rather than on natural causes (birth-death rates). In the special case of small, peripheral urban communities, sustained growth was found to be related to the location of the settlement, and in particular to the spatial characteristics of a cluster of urban settlements of which it may be a part. An index of clustering was defined, which allows an analysis of the combined effect on population growth of spatial isolation and distance from major metropolitan centers of the country. Although the present analysis was restricted to urban settlements in Israel, the mode of analysis and its applications for planning policy may be applicable to regional and urban physical planning elsewhere.     

施工用临时支架结构中支撑作用分析

施工支架是施工中常见的临时结构形式,目前我国常用的施工支架形式有扣件式,门式和碗扣式。随着建筑形式的变化,施工中高、大支架结构的使用日益广泛。由于支架是临时结构,长期以来,它的研究并没有引起人们的高度重视,其设计理论也还有很多不成熟的地方,加上工地现场管理的问题,致使在我国发生的建筑施工事故中有四分之一与支架的失效有关,造成了巨大的人身财产损失。本文利用有限元分析软件ANSYS建立了门式钢管支架的计算模型,通过对比不同支撑搭设方式下支架的极限承载力,对门式支架结构体系中支撑的作用进行了研究。研究表明支架的极限承载力与其失稳模态有关,而失稳模态是由竖向斜撑的设置方式决定的。通过改变竖向斜撑的设置,可以提高支架结构的稳定极限承载力。