Transfer of technology by German firms

Outside the USA little empirical work has been done to assess the impact of technology transfers on the economic performance of transferring countries. The following considerations are concerned with the transfer of technology by German firms.     

EC anti-dumping policy: Are price undertakings a legal substitute for illegal price fixing?

Antidumpingpolitik der EG: Sind Preisverpflichtungen ein legaler Ersatz für illegale Preisabsprachen? — Die Mehrzahl der EG-Antidumpingverfahren wird durch Annahme von Preisverpflichtungen abgeschlossen. Preisverpflichtungen k?nnen als Ersatz für internationale Preisabsprachen betrachtet werden. Ihr Zweck ist es, die Preise gedumpter Importe zu erh?hen und die Preise konkurrierender EG-Güter zu stabilisieren. Es gibt jedoch keine Anzeichen, da? die Kartellwirkungen von Preisverpflichtungen über die von den EG-Beh?rden beabsichtigten Schutzwirkungen hinausgehen. La politique anti-dumping de la CE: Les obligations de prix sont-elles un remplacement légal pour des accords illégals sur les prix? — La majorité des procédures anti-dumping de la CE sont réglées par l’acceptation d’une obligation de prix. On peut considérer de telles obligations comme un remplacement pour des conventions internationales de prix. On poursuit le but d’augmenter les prix d’importations affectés par le dumping et de stabiliser les prix des produits de la CE étant en concurrence. Il n’y a pas d’indications que les effets de cartel des obligations de prix dépassent les mesures de défense que les autorités de la CE ont eu en intention. La política antidumping de la CE: ?son precios guía un substituto legal de concertaciones ilegales de precios? — La mayoría de los procedimientos antidumping de la CE cierran con la aceptatión de precios guía. Precios guia pueden ser considerados como substitutes de concertaciones internacionales de precios. Su fin es elevar los precios de las importaciones bajo dumping y estabilizar los precios de bienes competitivos originarios de la CE. No existen razones, empero, para concluir que el efecto cártel de los precios guia superen el grado de protectión intencionada por la burocracia de la CE.     

A note on implicit inventory behavior in cyclical macroeconomic models with excess demand

The paper is concerned with dynamic models that allow for non-zero excess demand on goods markets but abstain from considering possible feedback effects of stock-piling. That is, inventories are only implicitly determined. Consistency requires that they do not fall below zero and, relative to output, do not grow beyond all bounds. With respect to periodic motions, conditions for consistency as well as for inconsistency are derived. It is indicated that a priori, in particular in the presence of long-run growth, inconsistency may not be an exception.     

Consumer habit forming,information acquisition,and buying behavior

Based on the three stages of consumer decision making proposed by Howard, this study analyzes the influences of consumer habit formation on information acquisition, stored information, and buying behavior. Using a sample of women having or expecting their first child, their habit formation with regard to three baby-related products is assessed. The data confirm most of the hypotheses derived from the theoretical model. Implications for marketing are discussed.     

The Pricing of Options With an Uncertain Interest Rate: A Discrete-Time Approach1

The aim of this paper is to develop a model for the pricing of European options under the assumption of a stochastic interest rate in a discrete-time context. This is accomplished by combining the well-known binomial model for a stock with a binomial model for the spot interest rate.     

Trends,economic policies and systemic changes in the three Baltic states

The almost total collapse of the old trade relationships with the other republics of the former Soviet Union has meant serious problems for the breakaway Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. What progress have these countries been able to make so far on their way towards a market economy? Are the problems likely to get worse before they get better?