Installing successful factories in developing countries

A big mistake of MNCs in installing factories in developing countries is to set up production planning systems similar to those in their other factories. The best system is one that reflects the resources and goals of the particular facility.     

Macroeconomic forecasting in Austria: An analysis of accuracy

In the present paper, we attempt a critical evaluation of macroeconomic forecasting in Austria. For this purpose, we calculate conventional magnitude measures of accuracy as well as probabilities of correctly predicting directional change for the forecasts made by two Austrian institutions (WIFO and IHS) and by the OECD. ARIMA models and Holt-Winters exponential smoothing serve as benchmarks for comparison.     

TRIPs as an adjustment mechanism in North-South trade

Developing countries tend to take a negative view of the protection of intellectual property rights as reflected in the TRIPs agreement, as this seems to conflict with their own developmental needs. As the following article points out, there are, however, a number of reasons why developing countries, too, may benefit from stronger protection of intellectual property rights.     

Consumers' concern about the environment and its impact on business

The discrepancy between ecologically conscious attitudes and actual behaviour is described as an inner resistance, and as connected with a propensity to ignore the external costs of wealth. Evidence is presented that this propensity is based on pro-material traits such as the positional attitude and the passion for goods. These traits are traced back to control orientation, whereas ecological responsibility is shown to be related to autonomy orientation. The societal origins of these basic orientations, and hence the conditions of reinforcing post-materially and ecologically minded behaviour, are discussed.

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Das Umweltbewutsein der Konsumenten und seine Auswirkungen auf die Anbieter

Zusammenfassung Ein Bericht über eine empirische Untersuchung, die gezeigt hat, da\ der innere Widerstand gegen naturverträgliches Wirtschaften mit promateriellen Einstellungen zusammenhängt, die auf eine kulturell verbreitete Grundhaltung zurückgehen, nämlich die Kontrollorientierung. Die Bereitschaft zu konsequent umweltschonendem Verhalten dagegen korrespondiert mit postmateriellen Einstellungen, denen eher die Autonomieorientierung zugrundeliegt. Kontroll- und Autonomierorientierung werden nach Deci und Ryan als konkurrierend nebeneinander existierende, kulturell geprägte Auffassungen über den Grund des eigenen Handelns betrachtet. Der Verfasser stellt dar, wie diese Werthaltungen in der westdeutschen Bevölkerung verteilt sind, und diskutiert die Frage nach den gesellschaftlichen Einflüssen, die sie hervorbringen und verstärken.

     

Some rationalizability results for dynamic games

We study the relation between dynamical systems describing the equilibrium behavior in dynamic games and those resulting from (single‐player) dynamic optimization problems. More specifically, we derive conditions under which the dynamics generated by a model in one of these two classes can be rationalized by a model from the other class. We study this question under different assumptions about which fundamentals (e.g. technology, utility functions and time‐preference) should be preserved by the rationalization. One interesting result is that rationalizing the equilibrium dynamics of a symmetric dynamic game by a dynamic optimization problem that preserves the technology and the utility function requires a higher degree of impatience compared to that of the players in the game.     

Improving access to health facilities in Nouna district,Burkina Faso

The Nouna health district in Burkina Faso, has a population of approximately 275,000 people living in 281 villages, and is served by 25 health facilities, as of 2006. For many people, the time and effort required in traveling to a health facility, which may demand a journey of many kilometers over poor roads on foot, is a deterrent to seeking proper medical care. In this study we examine how access to health facilities in Nouna may be improved by considering the configuration of the road network in addition to the locations of the facilities. We model the situation as a facility location–network design problem and draw conclusions about how best to improve the physical access of the health facilities. Our model shows the extent to which access can be improved when the road network is considered along with facility locations, in contrast to facility locations considered alone.