Enlarging and/or deepening the community

Developments in Eastern Europe have forced the EC to reconsider its goal of European union. German reunification and the end of East-West conflict and the division of Europe have given rise to two antagonistic schools of thought. One argues in favour of strengthened integration in order to accommodate a united Germany in the EC; the other implies an opening up of the EC to those countries wishing to join the Twelve. In order to pass beyond the enlargement/deepening dilemma the EC has attempted to implement a strategy whose success is still uncertain. The debate over enlargement is highlighting differences of opinion between and within member states over the objectives of European union.     

巩固拓展脱贫攻坚成果同乡村振兴有效衔接绩效评价研究

在全面打赢脱贫攻坚战后,如何进一步巩固拓展脱贫攻坚取得的成果、有效衔接乡村振兴,成为学界关注的重要内容。构建巩固拓展脱贫攻坚成果同乡村振兴有效衔接绩效评价体系,是有力推进二者衔接的重要基础。本研究以乡村振兴战略规划目标为依据,结合巩固拓展脱贫攻坚成果相关要求及接续发展时期特点,以产业兴旺、生态宜居、乡风文明、治理有效、生活富裕等5个一级指标,农业生产条件等16个二级指标和耕地保有率等38个三级指标构建评价指标体系,并综合运用层次分析、聚类分析和模糊评价相结合的方法构建评估模型,以期为巩固拓展脱贫攻坚成果与乡村振兴接续发展成效的评价研究提供借鉴。     

Happiness and relational goods: well-being and interpersonal relations in the economic sphere

The present paper provides an introduction to this special issue devoted to Happiness and Relational Goods. We start by presenting a few concepts that have recently appeared in the economic literature with the aim of capturing some of the peculiarities of personalised interactions. We claim that these concepts can be subsumed fairly well under the concept of ‘relational goods’. We then review the recent empirical literature on happiness and relational goods. Finally, we briefly introduce the papers contained in this special issue by outlining their respective contributions.     

Takeover bids, unconditional offer price and investor protection

In this paper, we develop a contingent claim analysis on shareholders' right to sell unconditionally their shares at the acquisition bid price during a takeover bid procedure. Compared with a situation without any guarantee, this regulation brings about wealth transfer towards outside shareholders. Why, in an apparently irrational way, do outside shareholders, who may benefit from a price guarantee, not systematically sell their shares? That question emphasizes the outside shareholders' behavior. Using a real option valuation model to evaluate the price guarantee opportunity, we show that an equal treatment rule between controlling and outside shareholders may lead outside shareholders to sell their shares.     

Modeling rationality in marketing decision-making with game theory

Game theory may be used to gain insight into interfirm competition and the marketing decision-making process. This paper is aimed at the reader unfamiliar or only vaguely familiar with game theory and begins with a review of game theory terminology useful to marketing applications. Attention then focuses on the meaning of rational behavior in less-than-perfect conditions, which is a critical issue in the application of game theory to practical business situations (what may appear to be irrational behavior under conditions of complete information may be reasonable given the complex competitive environment typical of marketing decision-making situations). The paper concludes with an appraisal of the use of game theory as a decision-making model for managers.     

Political Competition in Weak States

In the developing areas, politics is often undemocratic, states lack a monopoly over violence, and politicians play upon cultural identities. To analyze politics in such settings, we develop a model in which politicians compete to build a revenue yielding constituency. Citizens occupy fixed locations and politicians seek to maximize rents. To secure revenues, politicians must incur the costs of providing local public goods and mobilizing security services. Citizens must participate, i.e. pay taxes; but can choose which leader to support. The model enables us to explore the impact of cultural identities and varying notions of military power.     

Intellectual Property Rights in the Asian-Pacific Region: problems, patterns, and policy

This paper explores recent theory and evidence regarding increased protection of intellectual property rights (ZPRs) in Asia. Knowledge has significant public good aspects making optimal provision a problem of trading off universal access against adequate incentives for R&D. Given the ease of evasion of IPR relative to tariffs, attempts to push low and middleincome countries to higher levels of protection may be against their national interests. The Uruguay Round may encounter less than enthusiastic enforcement. Further efforts to refine IPR protection might usefully be focused on flexibility instead of harmonisation.