BEYOND THE HYPE: INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY AND THE KNOWLEDGE SOCIETY/KNOWLEDGE ECONOMY

Abstract.  This paper explores the debates surrounding whether or not we have now moved into a new knowledge economy and/or knowledge society and if so whether this shift is as significant and as far reaching as the industrial revolution. In this possible transformation the place of information communications technologies has been crucial. Debate has occurred across both economics and sociology with differing emphases as is shown in the ranges of definitions that we review in the paper. One consistent factor is the lack of clarity and consistency between them both within and across the disciplines. In order to explore the issues that the debates raises in a more grounded way, the paper explores them in relation to intellectual property (IP) and the intellectual commons in the process of innovation, growth and economic development. The paper is developed through an analysis first of the industrial revolution and the role within this of uncertainty, technologies, complementarities and elective affinities and the way IP was protected and controlled through patents, secrecy, being first to the market and copyright. The second part of the paper examines definitions of the knowledge economy and society and the role within these of information communication technologies in order to explore whether the ways that IP is protected and controlled have changed. In the debate about the 'knowledge economy and society' the role of innovation via human capital with a greater reliance on intellectual capabilities has been emphasized. The role of IP thus remains central but is now challenged by the rise of new forms of communication, which make its protection harder and move much of the concern with respect to regulation to a global rather than national and local level.     

Input- and Output-Oriented Technical Efficiency of Ukrainian Collective Farms, 1989–1992: Bayesian Analysis of a Stochastic Production Frontier Model

We propose estimation of a stochastic production frontier model within a Bayesian framework to obtain the posterior distribution of single-input-oriented technical efficiency at the firm level. All computations are carried out using Markov chain Monte Carlo methods. The approach is illustrated by applying it to production data obtained from a survey of Ukrainian collective farms. We show that looking at the changes in single-input-oriented technical efficiency in addition to the changes in output-oriented technical efficiency improves the understanding of the dynamics of technical efficiency over the first years of transition in the former Soviet Union.     

关于构建和谐社会政府公关能力的思考

政府公关是政府的重要职能,提高政府公关能力是提高执政党的执政能力的具体体现,是构建和谐社会的客观要求,本文仅就提高政府公关能力的现实意义和措施进行了论述.     

节约型社会环境法律制度建设若干问题探究

建设节约型社会要求进行相关法律变革,加强环境法律制度建设十分必要。指出现行环境法律制度中存在的一些问题,以建设节约型社会为出发点对其进行评论,同时提出亟需建立和完善的几种环境法律制度。     

西部十二省市区2002年距离2020年全面小康的差距 --社会发展主要指标的比较

从西部12个省市区的社会发展主要指标的比较可以看出西部发展很不平衡。西部的医疗卫生条件差，农民社会保障覆盖率极低，影响西部大开发的实施。政府应该以经济发展比较好的重庆和四川为依托。加大对西部地区社会发展主要项目的投入。     

中国现代化悖论与和谐社会建构

中国现代化悖论是马克思所揭示的资本逻辑在中国现代化中的表现：中国现代化需要利用资本的力量，但由此必然会产生一系列阻碍现代化的因素。这种现代化悖论决定了中国必须在克服矛盾中建构社会主义和谐社会，其基本路径是建立社会主义力量主导的资本形态多样化的市场经济体制，在资本运行和发展的全过程中限制与消灭剥削，实施以人为本的科学发展观，建设现代化的社会主义和谐社会。     

物权法中“私权保护”的新亮点及意义

物权法是国家的基本财产法，其最重要的任务就是界定及保护私权。2007年3月16日被高票表决通过的《中华人民共和国物权法》，是一部具有里程碑意义的法律。其冲破中国传统制度与观念，对公民私权保护提出许多切实可行的新制度。这些制度的设立对保护广大人民群众的根本利益。促进社会和谐有着重要意义。     

以治理理论重塑我国公共服务市场化的进路

以治理理论重塑我国的公共服务市场化，其实质在于培育多元化、多渠道的公共服务主体。从而对服务的“生产职能”与“安排职能”实现相对分离。首先，鉴于公共服务领域存在着严重的“政府失灵”。应该打破政府垄断公共服务的格局，明确政府只是服务的提供者，并非一定是生产者的角色，在市场化进程中应慎用政府机制；其次。市场机制可以促进服务质量的提高、服务成本的降低、提高服务效率。充分发挥市场作用。然而。政府机制和市场机制都存在着固有的缺陷。公民社会在分担服务职能等方面也起到了十分重要的作用。培育公民社会也是市场化不可缺少的环节。     

坚持科学发展观 转变经济增长方式

经济增长方式是指决定经济增长的各种因素的结合方式和实现经济增长的途径，在我国现阶段，转变经济增长方式具有非常重要的战略意义。我们应该通过促进科技进步、加快体制改革、调整产业结构和建设资源节约型社会等几个方面来实现我国经济增长方式的转变。     

民间组织管理制度的经济学分析

我国现行的"管制型"民间组织管理模式不利于民间组织的发展。通过比较现行管理制度下的成本与收益发现,要推动民间组织管理制度的变革,建立和谐的国家与社会关系,必须放松对民间组织的控制。