The Ideology of Intellectual Property Rights in the International Economy

Since the arrival of the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 1995 a number of side agreements have also been negotiated that seek further rationalization of the emerging global economy. Prominent among these is the agreement on Trade-Related Intellectual Property Rights, or TRIPS. Enforcement of the TRIPS agreement would involve the multilateral trade sanctions mechanism of the WTO. This paper examines justificatory arguments for the defense of intellectual property rights in the international economy. These arguments are based on the "classic" philosophic writings of Locke, Hegel, and Bentham. It is found that these well-known philosophic defenses for exclusive property rights do not hold up well when applied to intellectual property.     

Snowboarders vs Skiers: Contested Choreographies of the Slopes

Abstract

This paper explores the ways in which leisure spaces are increasingly contested, leading to greater pressure on a growing range of rural environments. We explore the tension between different groups of lifestyle sports enthusiasts (snowboarders and skiers) at one Alpine resort. We investigate the hybrid youth/lifestyle sport of snowboarding and show how it challenges the purpose and meanings of space in the previously exclusive winter sports resorts. The key metaphor of performance is utilised to show the pre‐eminence of style and movement to achieving distinction and marking difference between the two groups. We particularly focus upon differences communicated through clothing, skilful performance and sensual experience. Accordingly, we contribute to recent work that highlights the embodied nature of leisure and the increasing centrality of the body and somatic experience.     

Buy and buy again: The impact of unique reference points on (re)purchase decisions

Behavioral finance has uncovered that investor engage emotionally when trading. We investigate how three psychological factors influence purchase and repurchase decisions: representativeness, the influence of prior gains, and reference points. Using trading data of 7200 UK investors we find that purchase decisions are influenced by representative heuristic and repurchase decisions are influenced by both representative heuristic and prior profitability. Further survival analysis showed that investors use the prior selling price as a unique reference point. Investors are more likely to repurchase a stock when trading above its reference point, but more likely to initiate the repurchase when trading below. Investors are influenced by previous experience and engage learning behavior when they seek to reinforce past success. As reference points are inferred but infrequently researched, this research adds to the literature and provides important and robust results for those engaging with financial planning clients.     

Emerging market multinational corporations' cross-border mergers and acquisitions and political distance: Does corporate political activity matter?

Due to rising anti-globalization sentiment, emerging market multinational corporations (EMNCs) face additional challenges in conducting cross-border mergers and acquisitions, particularly in the developed markets. Built on institutional theory, we specifically examine how political distance, representing host–home country differences in various attributes in the political environment, influences the speed of approval for EMNC acquisition in the United States. The findings suggest that a larger political distance between the United States and EMNCs home country reflects challenges for EMNCs to gain legitimacy in the United States, resulting in the longer time required for acquisition approval. The EMNCs' corporate political activity moderated this relationship in that more corporate political activity improves the legitimacy perception of EMNCs among political actors, decreasing the time required for acquisition approval.     

Population density,urbanisation and agricultural mechanisation in modern Ghana

Farmers' technological choices take place within farming systems that are shaped by population pressure, connectivity to urban markets and agro-ecological conditions. The relationship between these drivers and agricultural technology use is ambiguous. On the one hand, population growth can increase the supply of labour, driving down wage rates and reducing the incentives for mechanisation. On the other hand, rural–urban movements of people can reduce rural labour supply while simultaneously driving up the demand for food and hence the demand for mechanisation. Past theories of agricultural mechanisation have explained the low adoption of agricultural machinery in land-abundant cereal production systems of SSA in terms of these drivers. However, recent empirical observations find extensive adoption of mechanised ploughing technology by small, medium and large-scale farmers in Ghana. Examining the Ghanaian experience can thus shed new light on theories of mechanisation. A large household survey dataset covering eight districts is combined with geo-spatial data on population, urban proximity and agro-ecological factors to consider whether the existing theories are able to explain farm-level adoption decisions in this context. The analysis finds that a farmer's decision to use agricultural machinery is associated with lower population density and proximity to urban centres. In northern Ghana, these drivers of technological change are as important as farm household characteristics in understanding cross-sectional patterns of machinery adoption.     

Regulation,entrepreneurship, and firm size

Journal of Regulatory Economics - We empirically investigate the theory that regulatory growth within an industry disproportionately burdens small businesses relative to their larger competitors....