Improving the effectiveness of nondisclosure agreements by strengthening concept learning

Intellectual property infringements rank among the top economic crimes, even though there are mechanisms in place to prevent their occurrence. One such mechanism are nondisclosure agreements, which, however, have been reported to fail in practice. This article argues that this may be overcome by strengthening employees’ concept learning. In an experiment, we investigated whether extended nondisclosure agreements, which provide the employee with detailed explanations and examples, lead to better recognition of trade secrets as compared to a standard nondisclosure agreement or no agreement at all. It was found that the extended nondisclosure agreement indeed increased participants’ ability to judge what falls under the trade secret law, whereas the standard nondisclosure agreement showed no such effect. Furthermore, the effects of the factors ‘Involvement’, ‘Specificity’, ‘Publicity’, and ‘Purpose’ on the identification of trade secrets could be proven experimentally. Employees’ judgments of whether an information represents a trade secret seem to rely on general cognitive processes. From this follows that concept learning could be integrated into systematic approaches for protecting intellectual property.     

Atypical workforce: raising the status of part-time employment-Canada

Part-time employment is a theme of major significance in political and corporate debate in the European Community. This article extends the debate to the Canadian experience and concludes that even with government intervention there has been no significant improvement in the status of part-time workers over the last decade.     

Arbitrage Possibilities in Conflict Situations

This paper argues for a new theoretical methodology that delivers best bet decision outcomes in contexts where issues are contested. Governed by the procedural parameters of such a Generalised Decision Assurance Methodology, a multi-criteria decision modelling approach is proposed that allows for the identification of arbitrage possibilities that emerge at the interface between conflicting sets of interests. Such possibilities are then exploited to secure a solution set that is maximally justifiable to both parties.     

Drowning among the lakeside fishing communities in Uganda: results of a community survey

The study aimed to determine the drowning burden in four Ugandan lakeside districts; the prevalence of life jacket use, and community knowledge and attitudes regarding water safety. Subjects were recruited as they disembarked from boats. A structured questionnaire was used for demographics, experience on water, details of incidents in water, and awareness of drowning prevention measures. Focus group discussions (FGDs) and key informant interviews were held. The study interviewed 544 participants; 81.1% male, 86.8% below 45 years, and 51.1% involved in the fishing industry. A quarter (26.1%) of the respondents were observed wearing life jackets as they disembarked. Participants who had been in a boat that nearly capsized (57.8%), or that actually capsized (21.7%), were no more likely to wear life jackets than those who had not had these experiences. Three quarters (73.2%) did not know how to call for rescue, and only 48.7% could swim. There drowning fatality rate in this community was 502 deaths per 100,000 population. Majority of drowning events occurred during transportation (51.7%) or fishing (39.0%). The most frequently mentioned factors were stormy weather and overloading. Drowning is a common threat to young adults in the fishing communities around Lake Victoria. Few preventive interventions are in place.     

Scale economies with regard to price adjustment costs and the speed of price adjustment in Australian manufacturing

This paper aims to examine the impact of firm size, industry concentration and the length of production on industry speed of price adjustment. To motivate the paper, an industry pricing model in error correction form is derived from firm pricing behaviour. As a new development, firms are assumed to have price adjustment costs that are a function of their size. The empirical model is estimated using two‐digit Australian manufacturing industry data for the period 1994:3 to 2006:1. The results suggest that the industry speed of price adjustment is positively related to firm size and negatively related to industry concentration and the production lag. Implied values for industry speeds of price adjustment are generally small when compared to other country industry studies. However, the industry average median lag of 7.1 quarters indicates a slightly faster speed of price adjustment than the estimate for the Australian consumer price index by Dwyer and Leong (2001 Dwyer, J. and Leong, K. 2001. Changes in the determination of inflation in Australia 1–44. Reserve Bank of Australia Research Discussion Paper 2001‐02 [Google Scholar]).     

Influences on Pricing and Markup in Segmented Manufacturing Markets*

The literature indicates that international manufactured product markets are segmented and imperfectly competitive. An industry pricing equation that encompasses markup pricing is constructed from flexible specifications of the firm's cost and demand functions, along with the profit-maximizing equilibrium condition. Instrumental variables estimation is carried out for 24 three-digit International Standard Industrial Classification industries, with data pooled across Germany, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States, for the period 1970–1991. The markup model is rejected for most industries. However, something approaching a fixed markup does exist in many industries, particularly when the Herfindahl index is low. The results indicate that countries with high levels of industry concentration are more likely to have prices and markups that are influenced by competing foreign prices. Nearly all markups are either pro-cyclical or a-cyclical.