The Influence of Legal Capacity on WTO Dispute Duration

World Trade Organization dispute settlement has evolved away from the concise process originally imagined to one where panels languish for years. This is to the detriment of lesser-developed states that do not have the resources that allow for access. In this article, I perform a multivariate analysis to explore the relationship between a state's legal capacity and the length of trade disputes. Controlling for selection bias, I find that the legal capacity of both of the involved parties contributes to longer disputes. The relaxed time expectations in this process favor the inclusion of developed states and exclude those without the resources necessary to carry out what has become the normal dispute process.     

Working Weeks,Rave Weekends: Identity Fragmentation and the Emergence of New Communities

Popular music is one of the most ubiquitous forms of contemporary culture. This paper looks at the phenomenon known as rave or dance culture in Britain. It examines the nature of the consumer experience at a dance club through the use of a two stage methodology. Based on observations and the collection of phenomenological data, the findings suggest that the experience is linked to a series of behaviours, which are related to fragmentation and identity. These include narcissistic identity, the emergence of new communities, the need for escape, engagement and prolonged hedonism. The paper examines these concepts in relation to postmodern consumption. In particular, an evaluation of postmodern theory and its focus on fragmentation and the project of the self is offered, by arguing for a return to "community".     

Monetary Policy Reaction Functions of the TICKs: A Quantile Regression Approach

This study investigates how Taiwan, India, China, and Korea (TICKs) set interest rates in the context of policy reaction functions using a quantile-based approach. Our results indicate the tendency of a milder response to inflation at low interest rates and greater response at higher quantiles of interest rates, where inflation is presumably higher than desired for China and South Korea. While the response to inflation over the quantiles is significant for India, yet the Taylor principle is less likely to hold. For Taiwan, the results imply that another instrument is employed to deal with its official managed floating currency.     

The Disciplining Effect of Concern for Referrals: Evidence from Real Estate Agents

Real estate agents rely on clients for referrals to generate future business; this article examines whether concern for referrals disciplines agents. We compare results for sellers who move to another area (and are less likely to provide referrals) with results for sellers who remain in the area (and are more likely to provide referrals). We find that moving‐away sellers’ houses have a higher sale rate, sell faster and sell for less (even after controlling for moving‐away sellers’ greater impatience). We also provide evidence that the disciplining effect of concern for referrals is stronger for agents who place a greater value on reputation. Finally, among sellers who are better at evaluating and monitoring agents, we see less of the high sell rate, low sale‐price effect.     

Identification and the narrative approach: A reply to Leeper

Contrary to the arguments of Leeper (1997), the problems that arise in VAR investigations of monetary policy do not arise with our use of the narrative approach. The apparent high predictability of our monetary-policy variable that Leeper finds is due to overfitting. And the estimated effects of our measure when variables other than output are considered are unsurprising given Leeper's specifications.     

Pricing behavior in United States manufacturing industries: A statistical study using disaggregated data

We investigate the relationship between industrial market structure and price flexibility (the administered-pricing hypothesis) across United States manufacturing industries by embedding market-structure variables in a model relating relative price variability (dispersion) and inflation. While we find support for a positive relationship between variability and inflation, we do not find that high seller concentration lessens the impact of inflation on price variability. We do find that the larger the efficient-sized plant, the lower the impact of inflation on variability. We also find strong effects of input prices and degree of product durability on relative price variability.     

Alterations in export patterns through transforming policies in Romania

This study examines Romanian export flows in light of the dismantling of the traditional economic ties within the former Eastern European trading bloc (the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance) and the conclusion (in 1993) of the Association Agreement between Romania and the European Union. These have led to a significant adjustment of the geographic trade pattern for Romania. The structural gravity model was employed to analyze the evolution of Romanian export flows to the two groups of main trading partners, i.e., the European nations of the former Council for Mutual Economic Assistance and the European Union. The empirical results support the view that the European Union became and will remain the major market outlet for Romanian exports in the following years.The authors are indebted to the participants of the 41st Atlantic Economic Conference for their helpful comments and suggestions on a first draft of this paper.     

The Effective Tax Burden of Companies and of Highly Skilled Manpower: Tax Policy Strategies in a Globalised Economy*

Company taxes and taxes on highly skilled labour both influence the attractiveness of a particular region as a location for investment. We measure the effective tax burden on capital investment and on highly qualified labour in 33 locations across Europe and the United States. We then correlate both types of tax burden in order to study the different tax policy strategies applied in different countries. We find that effective tax rates on companies and on highly skilled employees are closely correlated for a number of countries. Ireland and most new EU Member States impose relatively lower taxes on capital investment than on highly skilled manpower. Conversely, in the US, companies are taxed heavily but the effective tax rate on highly skilled employees is moderate.