Product-based cultural change: Is the village global?

We provide a model of product-based cultural change where trade integration leads to cultural convergence. A standard trade model of Dixit–Stiglitz monopolistic competition is coupled with a micro-founded model of cultural dynamics. We show that access to varieties that are attached to a global cultural type changes the incentives of parents to socialize their children and transmit their type. The resulting increase in agents of the global cultural type leads to a magnification of the initial shock. A striking feature of the model is that even temporary shocks to openness may have permanent effects through the changing distribution of preferences in the economy.     

The Utilisation of Trade Preferences for Developing Countries in the Agri‐food Sector

Both the European Union and the United States grant non‐reciprocal preferences to developing countries under the Generalised System of Preferences as well as under several regional schemes. The benefits of these preferences have recently been questioned. Several authors have pointed out the under‐utilisation of these preferences due to the constraints attached. There have been claims that rules of origin requirements and administrative costs, as well as uncertainty on eventual eligibility, have deterred exporters from using preferential regimes. We calculate various indicators of the utilisation of preferences in the agricultural, food and fisheries sector. We conclude that only a very small proportion of the imports eligible for these preferences is actually exported outside a preferential regime. The rate of utilisation is therefore high. However, the flow of imports from the poorest countries remains very limited in spite of rather generous tariff preferences, which leads to questions over the overall impact of the preferential agreements. In addition, preferential regimes overlap, and in such cases some regimes are systematically preferred to others. We use econometric estimates of the (latent) cost of using a given preference to explain why particular regimes are used. We focus on possible explanations, such as the cumulation rules (that restrict the use of materials originating from other countries), fixed administrative costs and differences in the preferential margin.     

Market‐orientated Positioning of On‐farm Processed Foods as a Condition for Successful Farm Diversification

Farm diversification is stimulated within the reform of the common agricultural policy. On‐farm processing and direct marketing are options, but farmers often lack a marketoriented approach. This paper illustrates the problem by presenting a consumer survey regarding on‐farm processed yoghurt. Conjoint analysis is used to define the most preferred yoghurt in different market segments. Results of the price sensitivity meter are similar to the conjoint analysis. Farmers' price setting is not always adequate, which means that opportunities and additional income are lost. Providing the necessary assistance in collecting market information and commercial training is essential in obtaining sustainable benefits from on‐farm processing and direct marketing.     

Contracts and Productive Information Gathering

We modify a standard Baron–Myerson model by assuming that, instead of knowing the state of nature, the agent has to incur a cost γ to learn it. Under these conditions, the principal will offer contracts that, depending on the value of γ, try to induce the agent to gather or not to gather information. We study the tradeoffs that are involved.Journal of Economic LiteratureClassification Numbers: D82, D83.     

The new Latin American landscape

For decades, Latin America has been accumulating a social liability of considerable proportions. Precariousness in education and health, food insecurity in a large stratum below the poverty line, violence, unemployment, and unlawfulness sharpen the incorrigible skepticism of opinion makers. Nevertheless, Latin America is an immense territory of possibilities to be exploited with independence, pragmatism, and proper vision of the future. The most promising news is that the region as a whole, despite insufficient progress in the smallest and poorest countries, is very close to meeting the targets in the fight against hunger. The greatest regional challenge is to harmonize economic expansion and the social profit that it represents. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Who talks to whom at a european meeting for technology transfers?

Who is interested in organizing it organizing transfers and partnerships within their borders or beyond, and who with? This article analyzes a meeting on 'bio-medical engineering' provides a few pointers in the European context, shows how the desire for contacts is structured by the nationalities, pinpoints a number of typical national 'patterns of behaviour' and highlights the dynamism of currenth deoeloping 'comparp networks'.     

On the measurement of differences in the commodity composition of imports or exports

Conclusion Following earlier reservations concerning the use of Glejser et al.’s index, this paper has attempted to show that Glejser et al.’s basic ideas concerning the measurement of the extent of specialization in imports and exports did not depend on the use of a specific index. Any measure of the inequality of the ratios (M _i/M_gi) defined earlier (and similarly for exports) could, in fact, be used. The empirical section of this paper, which looked at the commodity composition of the exports and imports of Denmark, Ireland and the United Kingdom, before and after they joined the EEC, confirmed that there was a positive correlation between the various indices proposed.