bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Validation of the Neutron Fluence Calculation on the VVER-440 RPV Support Structure
Authors: Belousov SI , Ilieva KD , Kirilova DL , Petrov BY , Polke E
Published: December 2005

Measurements with activation detectors were carried out on Unit 4 of Kozloduy NPP in order to validate the fluence calculation data for the RPV support structure. Irradiation of iron, copper, and niobium detectors was performed during the 17th fuel cycle. The neutron fluence on the support structure and the activities of irradiated detectors were calculated by the three-dimensional transport code TORT with BGL440 multigroup cross section library. The history of local power distribution in the reactor core was taken into account. The measured and calculated induced activities are in good agreement in the area of the support structure. The calculated fluence evaluation in this area is conservative.
Radio Frequency Plasma Treatment of PEEK Spinal Implants
Authors: Disegi JA , Roybal MA
Published: December 2005

Recent material developments have enabled metallic vertebral spacers to be redesigned from a biocompatible radiolucent polymer to allow clear X-Ray or MR assessment of bony fusion. Improved visualization response is considered a major clinical advantage during the post-operative recovery period. The use of implant quality polyetheretherketone (PEEK) polymer for the fabrication of radiolucent vertebral spacers poses a new set of material challenges. Traditional manufacturing methods associated with metallic implants are generally not satisfactory for polymeric materials. Polymers are relatively soft when compared to implant alloys and this can create manufacturing problems related to machining, deburring, and cleaning operations. The present study was performed to evaluate the use of radio frequency (RF) plasma treatment as a final surface modification for PEEK spinal implants. A brief description of the radio frequency plasma process is presented in addition to a discussion of the interaction between the gas plasma and substrate. Surface evaluation included goniometry testing to determine water contact angle before and after plasma treatment. X-ray photon spectroscopy analysis was used to characterize the elemental peaks, bond energies, and to define the semi-quantitative composition of the treated implant specimens. The relative advantages of plasma treatment are summarized.
Random Genetic Drift and Gamete Frequency
Authors: Mano Shuhei
Published: December 2005

An analytic expression of conditional expectation of transient gamete frequency, given that one of the two loci remains polymorphic, is obtained in terms of the diffusion process by calculating the moments of the distribution. Using this expression, a model where linkage disequilibrium is introduced by a single mutation is considered. The conditional expectation of the gamete frequency given that the locus with the mutant allele remains polymorphic is presented. The behavior is significantly different from the monotonic decrease observed in the deterministic model without random genetic drift.
Infant Orthopedics and Facial Appearance: A Randomized Clinical Trial (Dutchcleft)
Authors: Prahl Charlotte , Prahl-Andersen Birte , van't Hof Martin A. , Kuijpers-Jagtman Anne M.
Published: December 2005

Objective:

To study the effect of infant orthopedics on facial appearance.

Design:

Prospective two-arm randomized controlled trial in parallel with three participating academic cleft palate centers. Treatment allocation was concealed and performed by means of a computerized balanced allocation method.

Setting:

Cleft Palate Centers of Amsterdam, Nijmegen, and Rotterdam, the Netherlands.

Patients:

Infants with complete unilateral cleft lip and palate, no other malformations.

Interventions:

One group (IO+) wore passive maxillary plates during the first year, the other group (IO−) did not.

Main Outcome Measure(s):

Two metrical response modalities were used (i.e., visual analog scales and reference scores) to score facial appearance. Full face and cropped photographs were compared with reference photographs and were judged. The photographs were judged by 45 judges, 24 laypeople, and 21 professionals. Transformation of the scores into z scores was applied to compare and to pool both response modalities. The validity of each individual judge was evaluated, as was the reliability of the scales. Differences between the treatment groups were evaluated by means of t tests.

Results:

Photographs were available of 41 subjects, 21 with and 20 without infant orthopedics. No significant differences were found between groups. Mean z-score values for the full-face photographs were: group IO+ = 0.10 (SD = 0.73) and group IO− = −0.03 (SD = 0.48); for the cropped photographs were: group IO+ = 0.12 (SD = 0.71) and group IO− = −0.06 (SD = 0.55).

Conclusions:

Infant orthopedics have no effect on facial appearance.
Multipotent Neural Stem Cells from the Adult Tegmentum with Dopaminergic Potential Develop Essential Properties of Functional Neurons
Authors: Hermann Andreas , Maisel Martina , Wegner Florian , Liebau Stefan , Kim Dong-Wook , Gerlach Manfred , Schwarz Johannes , Kim Kwang-Soo , Storch Alexander
Published: December 2005

Neurogenesis in the adult brain occurs within the two principal neurogenic regions: the hippocampus and the subventricular zone of the lateral ventricles. The occurrence of adult neurogenesis in non-neurogenic regions, including the midbrain, remains controversial, but isolation of neural stem cells (NSCs) from several parts of the adult brain, including the substantia nigra, has been reported. Nevertheless, it is unclear whether adult NSCs do have the capacity to produce functional dopaminergic neurons, the cell type lost in Parkinson's disease. Here, we describe the isolation, expansion, and in vitro characterization of adult mouse tegmental NSCs (tNSCs) and their differentiation into functional nerve cells, including dopaminergic neurons. These tNSCs showed neurosphere formation and expressed high levels of early neuroectodermal markers, such as the proneural genes NeuroD1, Neurog2, and Olig2, the NSC markers Nestin and Musashi1, and the proliferation markers Ki67 and BrdU (5-bromo-2-deoxyuridine). The cells showed typical propidium iodide–fluorescence-activated cell sorting analysis of slowly dividing cells. In the presence of selected growth factors, tNSCs differentiated into astroglia, oligodendroglia, and neurons expressing markers for cholinergic, GABAergic, and glutamatergic cells. Electrophysiological analyses revealed functional properties of mature nerve cells, such as tetrodotoxin-sensitive sodium channels, action potentials, as well as currents induced by GABA (γ-aminobutyric acid), glutamate, and NMDA (N-methyl-d-aspartate). Clonal analysis demonstrated that individual NSCs retain the capacity to generate both glia and neurons. After a multistep differentiation protocol using co-culture conditions with PA6 stromal cells, a small number of cells acquired morphological and functional properties of dopaminergic neurons in culture. Here, we demonstrate the existence of adult tNSCs with functional neurogenic and dopaminergic potential, a prerequisite for future endogenous cell replacement strategies in Parkinson's disease.
Characterization and Multipotentiality of Human Fetal Femur–Derived Cells: Implications for Skeletal Tissue Regeneration
Authors: Mirmalek-Sani Sayed-Hadi , Tare Rahul S. , Morgan Suzanne M. , Roach Helmtrud I. , Wilson David I. , Hanley Neil A. , Oreffo Richard O.C.
Published: December 2005

To date, the plasticity, multipotentiality, and characteristics of progenitor cells from fetal skeletal tissue remain poorly defined. This study has examined cell populations from human fetal femurs in comparison with adult-derived mesenchymal cell populations. Real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction demonstrated expression of mesenchymal progenitor cell markers by fetal-derived cells in comparison with unselected adult-derived and immunoselected STRO-1–enriched adult populations. Multipotentiality was examined using cells derived from femurs and single-cell clones, culture-expanded from explants, and maintained in basal medium prior to exposure to adipogenic, osteogenic, and chondrogenic conditions. Adipocyte formation was confirmed by Oil Red O lipid staining and aP2 immunocytochemistry, with expression of peroxisome proliferation-activated receptor-γ detected only in adipogenic conditions. In chondrogenic pellets, chondrocytes lodged within lacunae and embedded within dense proteoglycan matrix were observed using Alcian blue/Sirius red staining and type II collagen immunocytochemistry. Osteogenic differentiation was confirmed by alkaline phosphatase staining and type I collagen immunocytochemistry as well as by gene expression of osteopontin and osteocalcin. Single-cell clonal analysis was used to demonstrate multipotentiality of the fetal-derived populations with the formation of adipogenic, chondrogenic, and osteogenic populations. Mineralization and osteoid formation were observed after culture on biomimetic scaffolds with extensive matrix accumulation both in vitro and in vivo after subcutaneous implantation in severely compromised immunodeficient mice. These studies demonstrate the proliferative and multipotential properties of fetal femur–derived cells in comparison with adult-derived cells. Selective differentiation and immunophenotyping will determine the potential of these fetal cells as a unique alternative model and cell source in the restoration of damaged tissue.
Differential Expression of α2 Integrin Separates Long-Term and Short-Term Reconstituting Lin−/loThy1.1loc-kit+ Sca-1+ Hematopoietic Stem Cells
Authors: Wagers Amy J. , Weissman Irving L.
Published: December 2005

Self-renewing, multipotent hematopoietic stem cells are highly enriched within the Lin− Thy1.1loc-kit+ Sca-1+ subset of mouse bone marrow. However, heterogeneous expression within this population of certain cell surface markers raises the possibility that it may be further fractionated phenotypically and perhaps functionally. We previously identified α2-integrin (CD49b) as a surface marker with heterogeneous expression on Lin− /loThy1.1loc-kit+ Sca-1+ stem cells. To determine whether differences in α2 expression were indicative of differences in stem cell function, we purified α2− and α2hi stem cells by fluorescence-activated cell sorting and analyzed their function in long- and short-term hematopoietic reconstitution assays. Both α2− and α2hi cells could give rise to mature lymphoid and myeloid cells after transplantation into lethally irradiated congenic recipients. However, α2hi cells supported hematopoiesis for only a short time (<4 weeks), whereas α2− cells reproducibly yielded robust, long-term (>20 weeks) reconstitution, suggesting that α2− cells represent a more primitive population than do α2hi cells. Consistent with this idea, α2− Lin− /loThy1.1loc-kit+ Sca-1+ cells exhibited an approximately sixfold decreased frequency of spleen colony-forming units (day 12) versus α2hi cells. Furthermore, bone marrow cells isolated from animals transplanted >20 weeks previously with 20 α2− Lin− /loThy1.1loc-kit+ Sca-1+ cells included both α2− and α2hi stem cells of donor origin, indicating that α2hi cells are likely lineal descendents of α2− cells. Interestingly, α2 integrin expression is significantly reduced on lineage-restricted oligopotent progenitors in the marrow, suggesting that high level expression of α2 selectively marks a subset of primitive hematopoietic cells which retains multilineage reconstitution potential but exhibits reduced self-renewal capacity.
Thymidine Analogs Are Transferred from Prelabeled Donor to Host Cells in the Central Nervous System After Transplantation: A Word of Caution
Authors: Burns Terry C. , Ortiz-González Xilma R. , Gutiérrez-Pérez María , Keene C. Dirk , Sharda Rohit , Demorest Zachary L. , Jiang Yuehua , Nelson-Holte Molly , Soriano Mario , Nakagawa Yasushi , Luquin María Rosario , Garcia-Verdugo Jose Manuel , Prósper Felipe , Low Walter C. , Verfaillie Catherine M.
Published: December 2005

Thymidine analogs, including bromodeoxyuridine, chlorodeoxyuridine, iododeoxyuridine, and tritiated thymidine, label dividing cells by incorporating into DNA during S phase of cell division and are widely employed to identify cells transplanted into the central nervous system. However, the potential for transfer of thymidine analogs from grafted cells to dividing host cells has not been thoroughly tested. We here demonstrate that graft-derived thymidine analogs can become incorporated into host neural precursors and glia. Large numbers of labeled neurons and glia were found 3–12 weeks after transplantation of thymidine analog-labeled live stem cells, suggesting differentiation of grafted cells. Remarkably, however, similar results were obtained after transplantation of dead cells or labeled fibroblasts. Our findings reveal for the first time that thymidine analog labeling may not be a reliable means of identifying transplanted cells, particularly in highly proliferative environments such as the developing, neurogenic, or injured brain.
Differential mRNA Processing in Hematopoietic Stem Cells
Authors: Bowman Teresa V. , McCooey Andrew J. , Merchant Akil A. , Ramos Carlos A. , Fonseca Patricia , Poindexter Alan , Bradfute Steven B. , Oliveira Daniela M. , Green Rahshaana , Zheng Yayun , Jackson Kathyjo A. , Chambers Stuart M. , McKinney-Freeman Shannon L. , Norwood Kevin G. , Darlington Gretchen , Gunaratne Preethi H. , Steffen David , Goodell Margaret A.
Published: December 2005

Hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) maintain tissue homeostasis by rapidly responding to environmental changes. Although this function is well understood, the molecular mechanisms governing this characteristic are largely unknown. We used a sequenced-based strategy to explore the role of both transcriptional and post-transcriptional regulation in HSC biology. We characterized the gene expression differences between HSCs, both quiescent and proliferating, and their differentiated progeny. This analysis revealed a large fraction of sequence tags aligned to intronic sequences, which we showed were derived from unspliced transcripts. A comparison of the biological properties of the observed spliced versus unspliced transcripts in HSCs showed that the unspliced transcripts were enriched in genes involved in DNA binding and RNA processing. In addition, levels of unspliced message decreased in a transcript-specific fashion after HSC activation in vivo. This change in unspliced transcript level coordinated with increases in gene expression of splicing machinery components. Combined, these results suggest that post-transcriptional regulation is important in HSC activation in vivo.
Money and Politics in the Current Contemporary Congress
Authors: Gilligan Thomas W.
Published: December 2005

Campaign finance reform is the subject of ongoing public policy debates in many modern democratic societies. In the United States, individuals and interest groups from across the ideological spectrum have proposed or embraced a variety of campaign finance reforms in attempts to alter the electoral landscape. At least one recent presidential candidate highlighted the issue of campaign finance reform which appear to resonate with voters, as part of a broader strategy to secure his party's nomination. Many of these reforms propose to alter the sources and uses of financial resources in Congressional elections.
Campaign War Chests in Congressional Elections
Authors: Ansolabehere Stephen , Snyder James M.
Published: December 2005

This paper examines several hypotheses that have been proposed to explain the existence and growth of legislators' campaign “warchests”. We examine the sources and political consequences of warchests in US House elections over the period of 1978–1998. Briefly, our findings are as follows. First, we find little evidence in support of the deterrence hypotheses. Second, short-term electoral forces-scandals, partisan tides, challenger quality-accounts for a large fraction of the explained variation in savings. Third, incumbents act as if they have finite, “target” levels of total savings. Fourth, some of the accumulated savings before 1992 appear to be for retirement. Finally, we find considerable evidence that many of the largest warchests are accumulated to help members run for higher office.
Congressional Committees as Reputation-building Mechanisms
Authors: Kroszner Randall S. , Stratmann Thomas S.
Published: December 2005

Interest groups cannot enforce contracts with legislators to work in their favor since fee-for-service agreements would be considered bribery. When such contracts are not available, a system of specialized, standing committees can provide a second-best way to maximize contributions, since such a system facilitates repeated interactions and reputational development between PACs and members of the relevant committees. Using data on PAC contributions by competing financial services interests to members of the House Banking Committee, we find evidence consistent with key implications of our model of committees as reputational-development devises. We then interpret important episodes in the evolution and development of the committee system during the twentieth century from the perspective of our theory. We focus on the revolt against House Speaker Cannon, which resulted in the birth of the modern committee system, and the post-Watergate reforms. We also consider broader implications of this approach for analyzing term limits, corruption, and party strength. JEL classifications: D72, D78, G28.
PAC Contributions and Defense Contracting
Authors: Tripathi Micky
Published: December 2005

This paper examines the political activity of US defense contractors over the years 1980–1994. Using econometric techniques to account for both fixed-effects and selection, I examine the industry determinants and distribution patterns of political action committee (PAC) contributions to the US House of Representatives. The analysis finds that the size of the defense budget is a primary factor explaining political activity across the industry as well as within individual firms; firm size, dependency on defense, and defense contract awards explain much less. I also find that firms appeared to change their political strategies in the face of large exogenous shifts in the US defense budget. While defense expenditures were on the rise, defense firms spread their contributions relatively broadly over the defense committee system; when the budget fell, however, the firms switched strategies and targeted committee leaders. An incidental contribution of the paper is an empirical application of the trimmed least absolute deviations estimator for fixed-effects models with selection.
Corporate PAC Campaign Contributions in Perspective
Authors: Milyo Jeffrey , Primo David , Groseclose Timothy
Published: December 2005

There is a vast empirical literature on the allocation of corporate PAC contributions in Congressional elections and the influence that these contributions have on the policy-making process. The attention given to PAC contributions is far in excess of their actual importance. Corporate PAC contributions account for about 10% of Congressional campaign spending and major corporations allocate far more money to lobbying or philanthropy than their affiliated PACs make in contributions.
National Technology Policy in Global Markets: Developing Next-Generation Lithography in the Semiconductor Industry
Authors: Linden Greg , Mowery David C. , Ham Ziedonis Rosemarie
Published: December 2005

Since the late 1980s, the Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) has been a prominent vehicle used to support collaboration between US federal laboratories and private firms. This paper examines the structure and goals of one of the most ambitious CRADAs conducted to date, the EUV CRADA, which involves three Department of Energy laboratories and leading US firms in the semiconductor industry and is aimed at the development of next-generation lithographic technologies. This large project is an important case study in ‘post-Cold-War’ technology policy and government-industry collaboration. Although the EUV project represents significant improvements in the design and management of CRADAs, it also illustrates the inherent difficulties of balancing political and economic goals in complex technology development programs.
Corporate Governance and Regulation in Privatized Utilities: Telecommunications in Four European Countries
Authors: Goldstein Andrea E.
Published: December 2005

This paper analyzes the evolution of corporate governance and regulation in privatized telecommunication companies in the four largest EU economies. A political-economy approach is used to test the validity of the convergence hypothesis, which posits that globalization should produce convergence in business practices, ownership patterns, and regulatory frameworks. While there are signs that the structure of ownership and monitoring in continental Europe is adopting some of the features of the Anglo-Saxon arms-length governance system, corporate decisions remain shaped by durable national institutions and distinctive political traditions regarding the role of the corporation in society, the “just” level of executive remuneration, the concept of universal service, and the involvement of the state in corporate restructuring.
Autonomy or International Cooperation? The Japanese Space Industry Responds to U.S. Pressure
Authors: Lee Seungjoo
Published: December 2005

The examination of the U.S.—Japan conflicts from the mid-1980s to early 1990s over the space industry sheds light on our understanding of the Japanese political economy. The Japanese response to U.S. pressure was not so strategic as conventional wisdom suggests. Under U.S. pressure, Japan shifted to international cooperation, abandoning the autonomous development policy it had sought for four decades. This unexpected policy change primarily resulted from the lack of clear jurisdictional authority among the government actors over the rapidly changing space industry. This study's findings will apply to other high technology industries such as telecommunications and information technology, where bureaucratic boundaries are ambiguous and technological change is rapid.
Business Associations and Economic Development: Why Some Associations Contribute More Than Others
Authors: Doner Richard F. , Schneider Ben Ross
Published: December 2005

Most current theoretical treatments view business associations as rent-seeking, special interest groups. Yet, empirical research in a wide range of developing countries reveals a broad range of functions and activities undertaken by business associations, many of which promote efficiency. These positive functions address crucial development issues (emphasized in the New Institutional Economics) such as strengthening property rights, facilitating vertical and horizontal coordination, reducing information costs, and upgrading worker training. The associations that engage in these developmental activities tend to be well organized and staffed. This institutional strength depends in turn on high member density, valuable selective benefits (often delegated by governments), and effective internal mediation of member interests. In addition external factors, especially competitive markets and government pressure, encourage associations to use their institutional strength for productive ends.
The Significance of Business Interest Associations in Economic Policy Reform: The Case of Australian Taxation Policy
Authors: Eccleston Richard
Published: December 2005

Taxation reform has dominated Australian politics over the past twenty-five years. Despite this prominence on the political agenda, until recently Australian governments have lacked the capacity to consolidate key elements of this tax reform agenda. While the problematic nature of Australian tax reform can be explained in part by macro-level variables, this protracted policy deadlock has also influenced historical patterns of business-government intermediation. The article argues that the evolution of the Australian tax policy network over the study period was prompted by both associational and state actors reassessing their strategies in the context of the political failure of tax reform proposals. These developments provide empirical insights into the ongoing debate relating to the factors which lead to the formation and evolution of sectoral level policy networks. The article concludes that while the increasing levels of business mobilization experienced over the study period enhanced the electoral viability of reform proposals, these new patterns of sectoral business politics should be regarded as a consequence of the policy deadlock relating to tax reform rather than primary cause of policy change.
Globalization or National Capitalism: Large Firms, National Strategies, and Political Activities
Authors: Hansen Wendy L. , Mitchell Neil J.
Published: December 2005

Does the cross-border strategic behavior of large firms reflect national differences? There is uncertainty about the ways in which expanding markets will influence the activities of large firms and national governments. Some theorists expect market forces to produce increasing pressure for uniform patterns of behavior, while others have argued that the national political economy is more resilient, and that corporate strategies remain identifiably national. Thus far the question, theoretically and empirically, has been posed in terms of economic behavior and consequences. We analyze the persistence of national practices in the political activities of large corporations using data on the Fortune 1000 industrial and service companies for 1988. To increase the sample of affiliates of foreign firms, we include firms in the Forbes ranking of largest U.S. affiliates of foreign firms. This source includes financial and service corporations as well as those in manufacturing industries. Overall, the findings suggest that, contrary to the national capitalism argument, firms adapt to the host political economy.
Corporate Market and Nonmarket Strategies in Asia: A Conceptual Framework
Authors: Aggarwal Vinod K.
Published: December 2005

Despite recent currency crises, most of the Asia-Pacific economies continue to be among the most attractive markets in the world and now appear to be recovering rapidly. An important element in understanding the dynamics of firm strategies in Asia is the nature of nonmarket strategies, which concern efforts to respond to and influence the political-economic-social environment. To examine such nonmarket strategies and how they fit with other firm tasks, this article first focuses on “positional analysis”—that is, how market forces, firm competencies, and the nonmarket environment influence the choice of trade, investment, or some mix, at the national, regional, or global level. It then considers the nature of “strategic analysis,” consisting of a firm's choices of market arena, a transaction cost analysis of organization forms for market penetration, and a distributive politics analysis of nonmarket issues. These factors combine to influence the firm's integrated strategic choice. Implementation of this choice is based on “tactical analysis” that focuses on the market, organizational, and nonmarket tactics that firms must pursue to succeed with their chosen strategy.
Dogfight over Asia: Airbus vs. Boeing
Authors: Sandholtz Wayne , Love William
Published: December 2005

Airbus strategies in Asia operate in an environment shaped by three forces: the technical constraints of building modern aircraft, the demands of world and regional markets, and the structure and objectives of the consortium itself. These factors map onto an integrated strategy analysis. The positional analysis for Airbus must focus on its status as the challenger to the dominant firm, on the consortium's peculiar organizational structure, and on the opportunities and constraints offered by its nonmarket context (multiple national governments plus the European Union). One way of looking at Airbus's experience is as a continual series of disruptions aimed at creating openings for Airbus to enter markets dominated by well-established competitors, in particular, Boeing. These strategic moves have involved both market and nonmarket elements. This article assesses the market and nonmarket strategies that Airbus has employed to establish itself in the crucial Asian market.
Congestion Ahead: Japanese Automakers in Southeast Asia
Authors: Noble Gregory W.
Published: December 2005

For three decades Japanese auto producers, supported by the Japanese government, deployed with extraordinary success market and nonmarket strategies to access the small and fragmented but rapidly growing car markets of Southeast Asia. The last half-decade has presented a series of unexpected challenges, including extended recession and financial reform in Japan; the lingering effects of the financial crisis in Southeast Asia; and the entry of new competitors from South Korea, North America, and Europe. These pressures have split the industry into two. Leaders Toyota and Honda have defended and extended traditional Japanese production networks. Weaker players such as Nissan, Mitsubishi, and Suzuki have accepted subordination to the leading western firms, which are rationalizing their Japanese partners and using them to enter Japan and other Asian markets. This article explores production, trade, and investment data, industrial policies toward autos in Japan and Southeast Asia, and brief case studies of Toyota and Nissan to illustrate the challenges to, and varying responses of, Japanese auto producers in developing Asia. These firms remain committed to Southeast Asia, but the days of Japanese dominance are drawing to a close.
ARPA Does Windows: The Defense Underpinning of the PC Revolution
Authors: Fong Glenn R.
Published: December 2005

The Defense Department's Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA) has aggressively and persistently supported technologies key to the personal computer (PC) revolution. Uncovering this political-economic link provides an important corrective to the popular lore surrounding the origins of the PC. In their emphases on private sector initiative and entrepreneurial risk-taking, conventional PC histories conform to orthodox market-based explanations of technological and economic progress. In contradistinction, this article “brings the state back in” to the PC realm of apparent market purity.
Regulation and Ethics in Business: The Israeli Bank-Share Case
Authors: Geva Aviva
Published: December 2005

This article analyzes the early-1980s Israeli bank-share crash at different points of its development to demonstrate the vital contribution of managers' professional and personal ethical norms to a fruitful collaboration between government authorities and the business sector. After presenting the case and discussing pertinent problems of external versus internal business regulation, this article provides a phase model of ethical decisionmaking in business that reconstructs the moral problems faced by the major players and probes appropriate responses to these problems. The application of the model to the bank-share affair shows how different stages in the evolution of the crisis introduce different ethical problems, inviting different moral considerations and calling for different solutions.
Banana Splits: Policy Process, Particularistic Interests, Political Capture, and Money in Transatlantic Trade Politics
Authors: Cadot Olivier , Webber Douglas
Published: December 2005

The most intractable and protracted transatlantic trade conflict of the last decade was over bananas, which grow neither on the European nor on the North American continent. Our explanation of the conflict emphasizes the determining role of the domestic politics of the EU and the United States. It was driven not only by the extreme divergence of preferences of Brussels' and Washington's domestic constituencies, rooted in the competitive position of competing banana industries, but also, and critically, by the institutional configuration of (agricultural) trade policymaking on either side of the Atlantic. The EU agricultural trade policy process is characterized by a division of labor that favors agricultural over wider trading interests, sectoral segmentation, and sector-specific issue-linkage. The U.S. trade policy process is characterized by the Congress's growing reassertion of its trade policy prerogatives, the growing institutionalization of firms' access to the trade policy bureaucracy, and the growing volume and role of corporate campaign donations. The combined effect of these different policy process traits has been to facilitate the capture of banana trade policy by highly organized, particularistic, and predominantly trading interests. Although neither the WTO nor the transatlantic trading relationship ultimately “slipped” over bananas, the conflict provides scant reason for optimism concerning the future of this relationship or indeed of the multilateral international trading system, at least in as far as the latter depends on good EU-U.S. relations.
Pursuing Regulatory Relief: Strategic Participation and Litigation in U.S. OSHA Rulemaking
Authors: Schmidt Patrick
Published: December 2005

Administrative agencies in the United States have developed highly formalized and complex processes for public participation in rulemaking, especially in areas of social regulation such as the environment and workplace safety and health. This case study considers the significance of participation in formal rulemaking processes by connecting the quality of participation to the strategic possibilities in litigation between private interests and regulatory agencies. Specifically, the strategic possibilities of the leading interest groups engaged in the Occupational Safety and Health Administration's major “Lockout/Tagout” rulemaking illustrate how legal resources are created through the development of evidence and claims in hearings. Written and oral presentations, apparently aimed directly at persuading the agency, indirectly affect agency deliberations by increasing the possibility that courts will constrain agency decisionmaking, thus creating opportunities for negotiated alternatives. The case ultimately serves as a paradigmatic example of how bargaining arises at the micro level of policy systems that are infused with broader legal structures.
Strange Bedfellows: Communist Party Institutions and New Governance Mechanisms in Chinese State Holding Corporations
Authors: McNally Christopher A.
Published: December 2005

Analyses of corporate governance problems in China's state sector have mainly focused on administrative interference from state agencies. So far the influence of Communist party institutions has received little attention. Although the influence of ideology has diminished greatly, the Chinese Communist party continues to monitor and control economic actors at every level of the state sector. This article shows that the institutional structure through which the party executes its monitoring and control functions has a corrosive effect on the day-to-day governance of the vast majority of state enterprises. The party's management structure aggravates the inadequate monitoring of managerial performance, weakens managerial incentives, and amplifies insufficient corporate transparency, thereby allowing state asset managers to carve out informal spheres of autonomy. These spheres of autonomy create opportunities for insider control, economic corruption, and the illicit privatization of state assets. Effective and sustainable privatization and corporate governance reforms in China's state sector will thus require the party to substantially diminish its authority over state sector executives.
Lobbying and Information in Politics
Authors: de Figueiredo John M.
Published: December 2005

The vast majority of papers written about interest groups' political influence focuses on the role of money in politics. Business and interest groups' participation in campaign finance, in the form of hard and soft money, has been the subject of hundreds of theoretical and empirical studies. Moreover, with the recent congressional moves to reform campaign finance laws, campaign finance studies have received a prominent position in public discourse.
Bribes and Fruit Baskets: What Does the Link Between PAC Contributions and Lobbying Mean?
Authors: Milyo Jeffrey
Published: December 2005

When I was a boy, my family would occasionally receive tall baskets filled with fruits, nuts and jams, most often around the holidays. These gifts from business acquaintances of my father were not meant to be inducements for him to break the law; rather, they were little niceties intended to maintain ongoing relationships. Today, when my wife and I are invited to dinner, we usually bring flowers or a bottle of wine as a gift. This is not some crass attempt on our part to ensure that sanitary conditions are maintained during meal preparation; it is only a symbol of our appreciation for the kindness of our hosts. Not for a moment do I believe that we would be ostracized should we go to dinner engagements empty-handed, nor would my father have punished nongivers. As such, these gift exchanges can be seen as epiphenomena: they symbolize underlying relationships, but they do not constitute relationships.
The Allocation of Resources by Interest Groups: Lobbying, Litigation and Administrative Regulation
Authors: de Figueiredo John M. , de Figueiredo Rui J.P.
Published: December 2005

One of the central concerns about American policy making institutions is the degree to which political outcomes can be influenced by interested parties. While the literature on interest group strategies in particular institutions—legislative, administrative, and legal—is extensive, there is very little scholarship which examines how the interdependencies between institutions affects the strategies of groups. In this paper we examine in a formal theoretical model how the opportunity to litigate administrative rulemaking in the courts affects the lobbying strategies of competing interest groups at the rulemaking stage. Using a resource-based view of group activity, we develop a number of important insights about each stage that cannot be observed by examining each one in isolation. We demonstrate that lobbying effort responds to the ideology of the court, and the responsiveness of the court to resources. In particular, (1) as courts become more biased toward thestatus quo, interest group lobbying investments become smaller, and may be eliminated all together, (2) as interest groups become wealthier, they spend more on lobbying, and (3) as the responsiveness of courts to resources decreases, the effect it has on lobbying investments depends on the underlying ideology of the court.
Law, Judicial Review, and Formal Models of the Regulation Game: A Comment on de Figueiredo & de Figueiredo
Authors: Johnston Jason Scott
Published: December 2005

In “The Allocation of Resources by Interest Groups: Lobbying, Litigation and Administrative Regulation,” (hereafter referred to as LLAR), John and Rui de Figueiredo make an important contribution to our understanding of how interest groups choose between lobbying and litigation strategies in the regulation game. Their work demonstrates the value of formally modeling the regulation game by distinguishing between lobbying and litigation. Drawing upon my own related work, in this brief comment I will focus upon some of the implications of formal models of lobbying and litigation for our understanding of how regulatory incentives are affected by judicial review and alternative statutory regimes. I hope to atleast suggest that in addition to illuminating many crucial issues in political science—such as the theory of lobbying and theories of political disadvantage—the sort of approach taken by the de Figueiredos has great significance for the analysis of some fundamental issues in administrative law and public law more generally.
Commentary on “Lobbying and Legislative Organization: The Effect of the Vote of Confidence Procedure”
Authors: Baron David P.
Published: December 2005

The Center for Responsive Politics reports that U.S. lobbying expenditures substantially exceed interest group campaign contributions, without including the lobbying that is not required to be reported to the government. Although it has grown in Europe, particularly with respect to the European Union, lobbying is less important than in the United States. Bennedsen and Feldmann (BF) provide an important and insightful explanation for the difference in terms of the institutional structure of governments. They present a model of informational lobbying in client politics where an interest group provides information to a majority-rule (three-member) legislature. The legislature chooses the scale of a program whose benefits can be distributed among legislative districts. The legislative agenda setter has a vote buying problem and allocates benefits to one other legislator to obtain her vote. BF compare legislatures operating with and without a confidence procedure that allows the agenda setter to tie passage of its proposal the continuation of the government. This commentary considers the method for comparing these two institutions, assesses the implications of the theory, and considers future research related to the theory.
Private Ordering on the Internet: The eBay Community of Traders
Authors: Baron David P.
Published: December 2005

eBay provides an online auction venue for remote and anonymous members of its online community to realize gains from trade. As a venue it never sees the items sold, verifies the item listings, handles settlements, or represents the buyer or seller. Despite the associated market imperfections and incentive problems, over five million auctions are active on an average day. Trading is based on trust among members of the eBay community, and trust is supported by a multilateral reputation mechanism based on member feedback. eBay supplements the reputation mechanism with rules and policies that mitigate incentive problems, reduce transactions costs, and support trust among members and between members and the company. Reputations and the rules and policies provide a private ordering of eBay's community. This paper examines this private ordering in the context of the company's strategy and in the shadow of the public order.
Strategic Responses to Global Climate Change: Conflicting Pressures on Multinationals in the Oil Industry
Authors: Levy David L. , Kolk Ans
Published: December 2005

MNCs are increasingly facing global environmental issues demanding coordinated market and non-market strategic responses. The home country institutional context and individual company histories can create divergent pressures on strategy for MNCs based in different countries; however, the location of MNCs in global industries and their participation in ‘global issues arenas’ create issue-level fields within which strategic convergence might also be expected. This paper analyzes the responses of oil MNCs to climate change and finds that local context influenced initial corporate reactions, but that convergent pressures predominate as the issue matures.
Polish Business Associations: Flattened Civil Society or Super Lobbies?
Authors: McMenamin Iain
Published: December 2005

This article tests two hypotheses about post-communist business associations. The first predicts weak business associations which are presented with insurmountable collective action problems by the flattened civil society inherited from totalitarianism. According to this hypothesis, no business associations are inherited from the previous regime, and associations are confronted with difficult-to-organize latent groups of large numbers of new small enterprises. The second hypothesis, as proposed by Mancur Olson, predicts strong business associations benefiting from the collective action advantages of the communist economic structure which was composed of small numbers of large enterprises. The hypotheses are tested with case studies of Poland's five most influential business associations. The conclusion is that the flattened civil society hypothesis is best borne out by the evidence. This suggests that, in other countries, political factors, rather than the standard communist economic structure, are more likely to explain the persistence of industrial super lobbies.
Business and the Crisis of Peruvian Democracy
Authors: Durand Francisco
Published: December 2005

The extent of business support for democracy in Latin America may determine whether the transitions from authoritarian rule since the 1980s lead to the consolidation of democratic regimes. While some analysts see business support for democracy as firm, others regard its as precarious, and still others believe it is contingent upon whether elected governments contest the economic interests or political dominance of the bourgeoisie. The difficulty of generalizing about the political orientations of business underscores the need for well-documented case studies. This study focuses on Peru, a country where democracy has been at grave risk, and it offers insight into the underlying forces and conditions that determine whether business supports or undermines democratic governance.
Explaining Corporate Litigation Activity in an Integrated Framework of Interest Mobilization
Authors: Unah Isaac
Published: December 2005

Although the pluralist theory of politics predicts that the focus of organizational activity should shift to the judicial arena whenever the expectations of government as regulator and the demands of regulated interests fail to converge, there has been little systematic research focusing on the question of business litigation as a specific form of interest mobilization. This article develops an integrated organizational choice model of interest mobilization to explain corporate litigation against the United States government. I argue that a company's decision to proceed with litigation is predicated upon the company's (1) resource capacity, (2) constraints of the regulatory environment, and (3) perception of procedural unfairness of the government in the administrative process. The argument is tested with data from a survey of top U.S. business executives whose companies unsuccessfully petitioned the government for administered protection between 1990 and 1995. The argument receives strong empirical support, and suggests that U.S. corporations facing import competition consider litigation an important component of their overall political strategy for obtaining nonmarket benefits.
Understanding Tort Reform: Strategic Actors, Public Policy, and Feedback Loops
Authors: Manweller Mathew Shon
Published: December 2005

This paper discusses the problems in the effective implementation of tort reform policy, focusing on several different areas that seek to review both the fundamental problems associated with punitive damages as well as the legal arguments in favor of tort reform. The limitations against the creation of a truly efficient system lie in the fact that strategic actors have the ability to anticipate the effects of reforms, and act to create feedback loops that diffuse the impact of the reform attempt. To implement effective tort reform policy one must understand how these strategic actors behave within the civil justice system, as well as how feedback loops limit the overall effectiveness of the tort reform policy. The findings suggest that the system of “decoupling” liability is the most efficient of all the current reform attempts or proposals, while the system can also be improved by adopting policies that isolate the incentive structures of plaintiff's attorneys.