The impact of patent protection on US pharmaceutical exports to developing countries

This article provides evidence that patent protection can have a positive effect on trade, by analysing the impact of the implementation of intellectual property rights (IPR) in developing countries on the US exports of pharmaceutical products, following intense lobbying efforts from the US pharmaceutical industry to have the Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) agreement included in the creation of the World Trade Organization (WTO). A gravity model using panel data from 1995 to 2010 suggests that the implementation of minimum standards of patent protection has increased US exports of pharmaceuticals to 108 nonadvanced countries.     

Using choice experiments to assess smallholder farmers' preferences for pig breeding traits in different production systems in North-West Vietnam

Livestock form key components of the livelihood strategies of many of the world's poorest people. However, despite the potential to alleviate poverty and improve food security through livestock development interventions, the lack of smallholders' participation in the planning and design of breeding programs has often been a major cause of the failure of such programs. Particularly in developing countries where livestock production is still mostly subsistence-oriented and livestock fulfil manifold functions a considerable number of livestock breeding programs have failed. The development of adequate tools to characterise these functions, bearing in mind that these are expressed only rarely in properly functioning markets, is therefore important.This paper seeks to advance the application of such methodologies to the smallholder pig sector in Vietnam. A choice experiment was applied across 140 households involved in pig breeding in order to assess farmers' preferences and the trade-offs for a list of adaptive and productive traits. These included growth, reproduction, disease resistance, feed requirements and appearance.The findings indicate that smallholders highly value both adaptive and performance traits, particularly in resource-driven (i.e. subsistence) production systems. Performance traits were more highly valued in the demand-driven (i.e. market-oriented) systems. These findings have implications for breeding program breed choice and breeding objectives.     

Forecasting inflation with an uncertain output gap

The output gap is a crucial concept in the monetary policy framework, indicating demand pressure that generates inflation. However, its definition and estimation raise a number of theoretical and empirical questions. This paper evaluates a series of univariate and multivariate methods for extracting the output gap in Norway, and compares their value added in predicting inflation. We find that models including the output gap have better predictive power than models based on alternative indicators, and they forecast significantly better than simple benchmark models. Furthermore multivariate measures of the output gap perform better than the univariate gaps. Comments from two anonymous referees, Q. Farooq Akram, Tommy Sveen, Ken West, Fredrik Wulfsberg and seminar participants in Norges Bank are gratefully acknowledged. All mistakes remain our own. The views expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of Norges Bank.     

The negative impact of R&D capitalization: A value relevance approach

Abstract

Accounting for R&D costs is an open issue. SFAS N°2 mandates that all R&D costs must be immediately expensed. IAS 38 requires capitalization of R&D costs if they meet certain criteria. Recent research papers show the value relevance of capitalized R&D. We test the value relevance of R&D reporting in a sample of 197 French firms between 1993 and 2002. The French context provides an interesting field for R&D value relevance studies because both accounting treatments of R&D costs (expensing and capitalization) are allowed. Unlike previous studies, we find that capitalized R&D is negatively associated with stock prices and returns. This negative coefficient on capitalized R&D implies that investors are concerned with and react negatively to capitalization of R&D. We also find that the firms choosing to capitalize (successful) R&D are smaller, more highly leveraged, less profitable and have less growth opportunities. Taking into account these characteristics, our robustness checks confirm that capitalized R&D is not associated with higher prices and is related to lower returns.     

Searching for synchrony

Authorities working on economic-crime investigation in Finland are trying to change their form of collaboration from the sequential passing of documents towards parallel, interorganizational collaboration: the on-line investigation of an ongoing crime. The synchronization of events and the outputs of various participants proved to be difficult in this emerging process. This new model of crime investigation also requires a new kind of time management. This article explores how the change is being constructed in everyday practice by examining three economic-crime-investigation cases. It is claimed that individual efforts to manage time allocation suffice only in terms of co-ordination of events. It is suggested that a successful shift to parallel, interorganizational collaboration requires more than the common marking of calendars. The object of the work and the forms of interaction should be taken as subjects of reflective negotiation. New kinds of collective time-management tools are needed in this effort.     

EFFECTS OF SECTOR AGGREGATION ON CO2 MULTIPLIERS IN MULTIREGIONAL INPUT–OUTPUT ANALYSES

The past few years have seen the emergence of several global multiregional input–output (MRIO) databases. Due to the cost and complexity of developing such extensive tables, industry sectors are generally represented at a rather aggregate level. Currently, one of the most important applications of input–output analysis is environmental assessments, for which highly aggregate sectors may not be sufficient to yield accurate results. We experiment with four of the most important global MRIO systems available, analyzing the sensitivity of a set of aggregate CO₂ multipliers to aggregations in the MRIO tables used to calculate them. Across databases, we find (a) significant sensitivity to background system detail and (b) that sub-sectors contained within the same aggregate MRIO sector may exhibit highly different carbon multipliers. We conclude that the additional information provided by the extra sector detail may warrant the additional costs of compilation, due to the heterogeneous nature of economic sectors in terms of their environmental characteristics.     

Towards a spirituality-based platform in tourism higher education

This conceptual paper contributes to tourism knowledge by proposing a spirituality-based platform in tourism higher education. Through this platform, the authors show how tourism education that supports discussion on spiritual development can help to create global citizens who are able to understand their potential as social, cultural and environmental stewards. This paper reviews recent developments shaping tourism education and examines the contemporary tourism educational landscape that supports a spirituality-based educational approach. The 7th platform of tourism studies is offered through a spirituality-based approach to knowledge and examples are given of how we can develop such a platform in tourism higher education.     

Travelling neo-tribes: conceptualising recreational vehicle users

Neo-tribes have been defined as including people from different walks of life who come together in fluid groupings, bound by common interests, similar lifestyles, rituals and language. This concept is popular in sociological literature, but has rarely been applied to travellers or tourism literature. This study sought to understand whether neo-tribalism could add insights into our existing knowledge of recreational vehicle (RV) users in Canada. Using a grounded theory approach including focus groups and in-depth interviews, the research found RV users exhibit neo-tribal characteristics which can be characterised as symbolic and behavioural. The behavioural aspects of this neo-tribe are evident in campsites, where rituals such as happy hours exist. Symbolic aspects included fluidity of membership and commitment to the RVing lifestyle. The findings suggest that the neo-tribal concept is a highly useful tool for understanding the motivations, behaviour and needs of travellers and adds new insights into our understanding of the RVing experience.