Is Non-discrimination Really Dead?

‘The most-favored-nation clause in American commercial treaties, as conditionally interpreted and applied by the United States, has probably been the cause in the last century of more diplomatic controversy, more variations in construction, more international ill-feeling, more conflict between international obligations and municipal law and between judicial interpretation and executive practice. more confusion and uncertainty of operation, than have developed under all the unconditional most-favored-nation pledges of all other countries combined’— Jacob Viner, in the Journal of Political Economy (February 1924)     

The Marketing Concept and New High-Tech Products: Is There a Fit?

This article defines the marketing concept in a traditional way, but extends its application to high-technology products. Dennis Cahill, Sharon Thach, and Robert Warshawsky present two case studies of high-technology products. Both products were ultimately market failures; however, the analysis presents one as a successful application of the marketing concept, contrasting sharply with the other.     

Industry and Government Advertising Regulation: An Analysis of Relative Efficiency and Effectiveness

This study analyzes data to determine the relative efficiency of the Advertising Standards Council, Consumer and Corporate Affairs Canada, and the Ministry of Consumer and Corporate Affairs of British Columbia in handling complaints about misleading advertising. The data suggest that, for some types of complaints, self-regulation is faster and nay resolve complaints at a lower cost than federal or provincial regulation. While there appear to be advertising problems that a self-regulatdry body is uniquely capable of handling, some classes of advertising complaints require the investigatory and punishment capabilities of government regulators. Effective and efficient regulation of advertising is best achieved through cooperative efforts by industry and government regulators. To achieve this goal, more informal interaction among regulators is suggested. Résumé Cette étude présente une analyse de données visant à déterminer l'efficacité relative du Conseil des nonnes de la publicité, Consommation et Corporations Canada et le Ministère de la consommation et des corporations de la Colombie-Britanique dans son traitement des plaintes concernant la publicité trompeuse. Les données indiquent que dans certains types de plaintes V auto-réglementation est plus rapide et permet une résolution moins coǔteuse que la réglementation fédérale ou provinciale. Bien qu'il semble que certains problèmes de publicité ne puissent ětre traités par un organisme auto-réglementé, certains types de plaintes nécessitent des enquětes et des mesures de réprimande dont seules des instances gouvernementales peuvent se charger. Une réglementation efficace dans le domaine de la publicité ne peut ětre mise en place que grǎce a une coopération entre l'industrie et les organismes de réglementation gouvernementaux. Pour atteindre ce but, l'étude recommande une plus grande interaction informelle parmi les organismes de réglementation.