American Overreach: Strategic Interests and Millennial Ambitions in the Middle East

This article argues that American actions in the Middle East designed to advance democracy and/or ‘moderation’ tend to yield perverse outcomes that frustrate the aspirations of local actors while undermining the values purportedly being promoted by the US. In order to explain these contradictions, we emphasise the linkage between policies of democracy promotion and long-standing American commitments both to millennialism and geographical omnipresence. As a result of these policies and geopolitical vision, we argue that ‘democracy promotion’ often devolves into a simple defence of American interest – by producing electoral outcomes intended to strengthen local agents seen as compliant with US regional priorities. In this context, the shift from democracy promotion to a policy of pursuing ‘moderation’ in the region, understood as support for American policies, is entirely coherent. Commentators tend to present this shift (particularly in the wake of the Iraq War) as recognition by US political actors of the imperial overtones embedded in more heavy-handed approaches to regime change. Yet, the call for moderation is itself profoundly intertwined with American millennial aspirations, while remaining remarkably devoid of clear content and thus equally amenable to manipulation for strategic ends. By way of conclusion, we suggest an alternative basis for a less intrusive American position in the region, one that rejects the need for an overstretched territorial presence and that is grounded in a substantive respect for local self-determination.     

The commercial contribution of clinical studies for pharmaceutical drugs

Pharmaceutical drugs are rigorously evaluated through clinical studies. The commercial consequences of such clinical studies, both to the promotion for and sales of drugs, are largely under-researched. The present study answers the following research questions: 1) How does the evolution of clinical study outcomes affect product sales? 2) How does the evolution of clinical study outcomes affect a firm's promotion expenditures to physicians and consumers? 3) Is the assessment of the responsiveness of sales to promotion expenditures biased when the analyst omits the role of clinical studies? We summarize a comprehensive body of clinical studies in three metrics: valence, dispersion, and volume. We extend the literature with the following findings. A higher valence and volume of clinical studies (i.e., more positive and larger number of studies) increase sales. A higher valence of clinical studies increases spending on both direct-to-consumer advertising and direct-to-physician promotion. A higher dispersion among clinical studies decreases spending on direct-to-consumer advertising. A higher volume of clinical studies has no effect on direct-to-physician promotion, but decreases direct-to-consumer advertising. Furthermore, the results show that omitting these metrics from a market response model leads to an overestimation of the responsiveness of sales to promotion expenditures.     

Spiritual Climate of Business Organizations and Its Impact on Customers’ Experience

This study examines the notion of ‹spirituality’ as a dimension of human self, and its relevance and role in management. Major thesis of this research is that spirituality of employees is reflected in work climate. This may in turn affect the employees’ service to the customers. In the first part of the study a Spiritual Climate Inventory is developed and validated with the data from manufacturing and service sector employees. In the later part, hypothesis of positive impact of spiritual climate on customers’ experience of employees’ service is examined and found to be substantiated empirically.

Dynamic causality testing for EKC hypothesis,pollution haven hypothesis and international trade in India

This study examines the causality relationships between foreign direct investment (FDI), economic growth (GDP) and CO₂ emissions along with the level of trade (exports and imports) taking place in India. The study uses data obtained from World Development Indicators (WDI) of World Bank Group for the period 1982–2013. The study employed the dynamic multivariate Toda-Yamamoto (TY) approach that uses the modified Wald (MWALD) test. Among the major findings of the study are: the existence of both Pollution Haven Hypothesis and Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) hypothesis in India. The other findings of the study are: FDI is causing exports; exports are causing imports; imports are causing CO₂ emissions; and finally CO₂ emissions and GDP are causing each other. This finding concludes mainly two things. First, India imports more of pollution-intensive manufactured goods. Second, FDI is causing GDP in India but through CO₂ emissions.     

New technologies and developing countries: Prospects and potential

Technological innovations in informatics and other new technologies are having a major impact on most production and service sectors in industrialized countries. Inadequate transfer of such technologies to developing countries, with a few notable exceptions, is increasing the technology gap and reducing competitive capability in these countries. Far-reaching policy changes and a new emphasis on technological development must be made by developing economies in order to avail themselves of the growing potential of new and emerging technologies.     

地区竞争格局演变下的中国转轨:财政激励和发展模式反思

在考察1990年代中期之前和之后中国地区竞争模式演变的基础上,本文提出了一个分析框架,通过考察中央-地方和地方政府-企业两个维度关系及其在中国转轨30年中两个不同阶段的变化,研究了不同时期地方政府在财政激励下所面临的约束条件的变化和对应的地区竞争行动。本文指出,无论是"中国特色的保护市场型财政联邦主义"理论,还是"官员晋升锦标赛"理论,都难以解释中国转轨高增长的政治经济学逻辑。本文考察了地方政府在工业和商住用地出让上的不同策略,并指出中国当前发展阶段中以地方政府提供低价土地、补贴性基础设施乃至放松劳工、环境保护标准吸引制造业的地区"竞次性"发展模式,不具备经济、社会发展乃至环境保护上的可持续性。     

Developing measures of airport productivity and performance: an application of data envelopment analysis

Many studies have investigated the financial results and economic productivity of airlines but few have investigated the productivity or performance of airports, and how changes in the industry may have affected them. Most airports measure performance strictly in accounting terms by looking at only total costs and revenues and the resulting surpluses or deficits. Few utilize any type of productivity measure or performance indicator. This paper applies Data Envelopment Analysis to assess the performance of airports. It is used to construct performance indices on the basis of the multiple outputs which airports produce and the multiple inputs which they utilize. In particular we develop productivity measures for terminals and airside operations. The performance measures are then used in a second stage Tobit regression in which environmental, structural and managerial variables are included. The regression results provide a ‘net’ performance index and also identify which variables the managers have some control over and what the relative importance of each variable is in affecting performance. The data set contains a panel of 21 U.S. airports over a five-year period.