External and internal influences on R&D alliance formation: Evidence from German SMEs

Relying on relational capital theory and transaction cost economics (TCE), this study identifies factors that impede or promote alliance formation in small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Environmental uncertainty and knowledge intensity impede firms' R&D alliance formation; the focal firm's overall trust in partners enhances alliance formation. Trust interacts positively with environmental uncertainty and knowledge intensity to affect alliance formation in SMEs. The findings reflect data from a longitudinal sample of 854 German SMEs, captured over eight years from 1999 to 2007.     

International order and individual liberty

This article takes issue with the traditional way of conceptualizing international relations as anarchy. While the “anarchy problematique” has become established wisdom of neorealist (structuralist) international relations theory, neither the historical record, nor the analytical power, of this approach is borne out by closer examination. The elimination of questions concerning individual liberty, and the exclusion from analysis of international and domestic institutions serving this end, have been pursued in the vain hope of formulating a systematic and parsimonious theory of international politics. p ]On the basis of an examination of the post-war era, in which issues of stable democratic regimes and liberal international institutions were of primary importance, this article suggests an alternative approach for the study of international politics. By conceptualizing both the domestic and international systems associal systems, differing in degree and kind of institutionalized behavior, particular attention is directed to the link between individual rights and domestic institutions, as well as to the linkage of domestic and international structures. The metaphor of a “game,” constituted by rules and norms, is particularly helpful in providing an alternative research program. This approach is not only more attuned to political practice, it also allows for the stringent examination of normative questions. In preparing this paper, I was helped by the support of the Liberty Fund and by my research assistant, Rey Koslowski. I also thank colleagues Joe Grieco, Joseph Nye, Michaela Richter, David Spiro as well as two anonymous referees of this journal who provided helpful suggestions. Lawrence B. Simon Professor of Political Science; University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104-6215.     

VOTING ON SOCIAL SECURITY WHEN LABOR SUPPLY IS ENDOGENOUS†

One of the puzzles in the political economic theory of unfunded pension systems is that middle-aged voters do not seem to advocate unlimited increases in the level of contributions and benefits if they take this decision to be valid forever. While the previous literature answered this question by pointing at borrowing restrictions, a more convincing explanation rests on the voters’understanding that future social security taxes will adversely affect future labor supply and thus the source from which their own pensions must be financed. This paper analyzes the validity of this explanation for two different types of pension systems, (a) the lump-sum benefits case, and (b) the case of fairness within cohorts.     

A GENERAL PROOF OF THE DYBVIG-INGERSOLL-ROSS THEOREM: LONG FORWARD RATES CAN NEVER FALL

A senera1 proof of the Dybvig-Ingersoll-Ross Theorem o n thc monotonicity of long foraard rates is presented. Some inconsistencies in the original proof o f this theorein are discussed.     

Devaluation: Keynesian trade models and the monetary approach: The role of nominal and real wage rigidity

Labor market assumptions provide the crucial ingredients by which we distinguish between a Keynesian and a classical monetary trade model (monetary approach). Domestic and foreign goods are perfect substitutes and the law of one price holds. This minimal model should be appreciated as an income-cum-price specie flow mechanism although the long-run equilibrating process is not discussed in any detail. The paper stresses the interplay between demand pull and cost-push factors as a result of exchange rate changes.