bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Technical Barriers to Trade in the European Union: Importance for Accession Countries
Authors: Brenton Paul , Sheehy John , Vancauteren Marc
Published: March 2003

With trade in industrial products between the EU and the countries of central and eastern Europe (CEECs) now essentially free of tariff and non‐tariff restrictions, the principal impact of accession to the EU on trade flows will be through access to the single market of the EU. A key element of this will be the removal of technical barriers to trade. In this article we try to highlight the potential importance of technical barriers to trade between the EU and the various CEECs, distinguishing between sectors according to the different approaches to the removal of these barriers in the EU: mutual recognition, detailed harmonization (old approach) and minimum requirements (new approach). We use two sources of information on technical regulations: a sectoral classification from a previous study of the impact of the single market and our own detailed translation of EU product‐related directives into the relevant tariff codes. The analysis suggests that the importance of technical barriers varies considerably across the CEECs. The adjustment implications of access to the single market are likely to be greatest for those most advanced in their accession negotiations.
The Redistributive Effects of the EU Budget: An Analysis and Proposal for Reform
Authors: De La Fuente Angel , Doménech Rafael
Published: March 2003

This article analyses the redistributive effects of the EU budget during the period 1986–98, explores the implications of the Berlin budget agreement, and advances a proposal for setting member countries' budgetary balances in a manner that is consistent with a simple equity criterion based on relative income per capita without sacrificing other policy goals.
European Style of Corporate Governance at the Crossroads
Authors: Rebérioux Antoine
Published: March 2003

This article examines the basic principles of the continental European style of corporate governance, and its evolution in the context of the globalization of financial markets. By stressing the role of worker involvement, shareholder value, as an (economic) theory of the firm, as a practice and as an ideology, is critically assessed. Also, the thesis of national models’ convergence is rejected, in favour of an approach rooted in ‘institutional complementarities’. To sustain and illustrate our main conclusions, recent developments in France and Germany are studied. Finally, the current building up of a regulatory framework in the European Union — characterized by a model of corporate governance based on workplace democracy — is analysed.
Government–Business Strategies in EU–US Economic Relations:
Authors: Hocking Brian , McGuire Steven
Published: March 2003

The increasingly complex character of the US–EU economic relationship is well understood. Within this relationship, trade politics is an important setting for the interaction of firms, states and civil society. Focusing on a highly significant transatlantic trade dispute relating to a US tax policy (called foreign sales corporations), the article explores the business–government interactions generated. We conclude that such cases illustrate how the integrated character of the transatlantic economy limits the tactical options for all policy players and produces patterns of interaction between public and private actors in which both can come to assume significant roles.
European Integration and Industrial Relations: a Case of Convergence and Divergence?
Authors: Marginson Paul , Sisson Keith
Published: March 2003

European integration has led to considerable reflection about the trajectory of industrial relations in Europe. In the event, rather than the ‘two extremes of social union versus a completely deregulated free–for–all’, a multi–level system is emerging which is simultaneously prompting both convergent and divergent developments, reflecting the different intensity of pressures for change at sector and company levels. For the foreseeable future, complexity, uncertainty and instability look set to be the defining characteristics, with policy–makers and practitioners seeking to influence directions to their own advantage. Especially uncertain is the impact of enlargement, bearing in mind the accession states’ very different industrial relations systems and levels of economic development.
Europeanization and the Transformation of the Democratic Polity, 1945–2000
Authors: Anderson Jeffrey. J.
Published: March 2003

Since 1957, a far–reaching transformation of politics within the Member States, commonly described as Europeanization, is said to have taken place. This article contributes to the literature on this phenomenon by focusing on the impact of integration on the democratic polity — that is, the constellation of institutions, procedures and rules of parliamentary democracy, and the political dynamics that flow from them. The empirical analysis is based on Arend Lijphart’s path–breaking research on democracy. I discover that core features of the democratic polity across Europe have proved strikingly resilient in the face of the transformational effects of integration. An exception can be found among the newest democracies in the EU, which exhibit signs of modest convergence. Both of these findings are consistent with institutionalist theory. My conclusions suggest the presence of tangible limits to the reach of integration, and give cause for optimism about the continuing relevance of democratic institutions at the national level.
Simulations and Institutional Change: Training US Government Professionals for Improved Management of Complex Emergencies Abroad
Authors: Babus Sylvia , Hodges Kathryn , Kjonnerod Erik
Published: March 2003

A new training programme for US Government officials features simulations that require them to reach across normal bureaucratic boundaries to rehearse actual responses to real‐life overseas emergencies. The simulations use a planning template that builds on lessons learned from recent, non‐traditional, civil‐military and humanitarian operations. The programme aims to help officials from many different parts of the government improve their capacity to coordinate inter‐agency responses by institutionalizing advance planning among those most likely to be involved in any US action. A discussion‐capture software package developed at the War Gaming and Simulation Centre that incorporates the planning template facilitates this process and supports the training goals.
Protecting the Nation's Critical Infrastructure: The Vulnerability of U.S. Water Supply Systems
Authors: Clark Robert M. , Deininger Rolf A.
Published: March 2003

Terrorism in the United States was not considered a serious threat until the second half of the 1990s. However, recent attacks both at home and abroad have forced government planners to consider the possibility that critical elements of the U.S. infrastructure might in fact be vulnerable to terrorism. The potential for chemical or biological contamination of water supply systems exists along with the possibility that such systems might be sabotaged. This article reviews the threat of biological and chemical compounds in relation to the characteristics of water supply systems. Vulnerability of such systems to terrorist attacks is examined, as well as possible physical and chemical countermeasures that could be applied. A case study is presented of an accidental contamination event that illustrates the difficulty of tracking such events in a drinking water system. It can be concluded that municipal water supplies are vulnerable. However, appropriate physical planning of such systems, including contingency back‐up with separate water lines for emergencies, coupled with proactive monitoring, will significantly increase security in the face of possible terrorist attacks.
Landmines and Local Community Adaptation
Authors: Benini Aldo A. , Moulton Lawrence H. , Conley Charles E.
Published: March 2003

Despite international mobilization for greater humanitarian mine action and despite considerable clearance achievements, the majority of mine‐affected communities have not yet been involved in formal clearance activities. They adapt to the contamination largely by local means. The differing degree to which local adaptation is successful is now better understood as a result of the Global Landmine Survey, a multi‐country survey project launched in the wake of the 1997 Ottawa treaty to ban anti‐personnel mines. Socio‐economic impact surveys have since been completed in several countries. In addition to landmines, the Global Landmine Survey records impacts also from unexploded ordnance (UXO). The ability to avoid mine incidents is used to measure adaptation success. We use a variant of Poisson regression models in order to identify community and contamination correlates of the number of recent landmine victims. We estimate separate models using data from the Yemen, Chad and Thailand surveys. We interpret them in a common framework that includes variables from three domains: Pressure on resources, intensity of past conflict and communities’ institutional endowments. Statistically significant associations occur in all three domains and in all the three countries studied. Physical correlates are the most strongly associated, pointing to a lasting deadly legacy of violent conflict, but also significant learning effects over time are present. Despite different measurements of institutional endowments, in each country one factor signifying greater local development is correlated with reductions in victims, whereas factors commonly associated with the presence of government officials do not contribute to local capacity to diminish the landmine problem. Strong spatial effects are manifest in clusters of communities with recent victims. Two policy consequences emerge. Firstly, given humanitarian funding limits, trade‐offs between clearing contaminated land and creating alternative employment away from that land need to be studied more deeply; the Global Landmine Survey will need to reach out to other bodies of knowledge in development. Secondly, communities with similar contamination types and levels often form local clusters that are smaller than the administrative districts of the government and encourage tailored planning approaches for mine action. These call for novel coalitions that bring advocacy and grassroots NGOs together with local governments, agricultural and forestry departments and professional mine clearance and awareness education agencies.
Frontal brain activation in anxious school children
Authors: Baving Lioba , Laucht Manfred , Schmidt Martin H.
Published: March 2003

Background: An atypical EEG pattern of frontal brain activation has been found in infants and adults with emotional disorders. Eighty‐two 8‐year‐old children and 56 11‐year‐old children were examined with regard to the following questions: 1. Do children who are diagnosed with anxiety disorder exhibit an atypical pattern of frontal brain activation? 2. Can this pattern be demonstrated in children of different ages? and 3. Are there gender differences in these patterns similar to those that have been demonstrated in adults? Baseline EEG activity was subjected to power spectral analysis. Results: In 8‐ and 11‐year‐old anxious girls, the well‐known pattern of greater right than left frontal activation emerged that has been found previously in internalizing preschoolers. Healthy girls showed no frontal asymmetry at 8 years of age, and a greater left than right frontal brain activation at 11 years. In contrast, healthy boys demonstrated a significantly greater right than left frontal activation, whereas anxious boys displayed no frontal asymmetry at the age of 8, and a greater left than right frontal activation at the age of 11. Conclusions: Children suffering from anxiety disorders exhibited a significantly different pattern of frontal brain activation than healthy children without any lifetime diagnosis of mental disorder. Distinct gender differences in frontal activation were found in anxious as well as in healthy children. This could be demonstrated in two samples of different ages.
Maternal predictors of children's social cognition: an attachment perspective
Authors: Steele Miriam , Steele Howard , Johansson Martin
Published: March 2003

Background: This paper assumes that the capacities to (1) openly acknowledge, and (2) elaborate a resourceful plan for coping with distress in the self and others are central features of social cognition. Method: These capacities were assessed in a sample (N=51) of 11‐year‐old children whose mothers and fathers had previously provided Adult Attachment Interviews (AAIs) before their children were born. The children were shown six line‐drawn sequences of child(ren), with peer(s) and/or family in diverse situations involving some moderate distress. The experimenter described the adversity shown in the sequence (e.g., bully pushing over another school‐aged child in the presence of onlookers) and then invited the child to attribute thoughts and feelings to the characters, and comment upon what might happen next. Results: Children whose responses scored highly for acknowledgement of the distress, and elaborating a resolution, were significantly more likely to have had mothers (but not fathers) whose AAIs were judged autonomous‐secure as opposed to insecure (i.e., dismissing, preoccupied and/or unresolved). The significant influence of maternal representations of attachment upon the 11‐year outcome remained even after taking account of concurrent parenting attitudes, children's verbal intelligence, as well as the previously assessed infant–parent attachment patterns. Conclusions: Discussion concerns the differential predictive power of maternal responses to the Adult Attachment Interview as related to the domain of children's social and emotional understanding.
Assessment of the within‐family environment in twins: absolute versus differential ratings, and relationship with conduct problems
Authors: Carbonneau Rene , Eaves Lindon J. , Silberg Judy L. , Simonoff Emily , Rutter Michael
Published: March 2003

Background: The aim was to compare the psychometric properties of absolute versus differential ratings of the within‐family environments and to examine their associations with conduct problems in 8–16‐year‐old twins.

Methods: The sample comprised 1117 pairs of like‐sex male and female twins and their parents, recruited from the school population of Virginia. The within‐family environment was assessed from the Twin Inventory of Relationships and Experiences (TIRE), which provided measures of differential parental criticism, parental preference for one twin, and twins' peers' conduct problems, as rated by mothers, fathers and each of the twins. Twins' conduct problems were assessed by a modified version of the Olweus questionnaire.

Results: Although differential ratings and absolute ratings had similar psychometric properties, the use of absolute ratings to differentiate the twins resulted in a construct with weak inter‐rater agreement and low stability over time. Differential ratings of the twins' environment showed significant associations with differences in conduct problems between the twins, whereas the difference in absolute ratings of each twin did not. The differential parental criticism effect was uninfluenced by the overall level of criticism in the family.

Conclusions: A direct contrast between siblings or twins, as part of the rating procedure (as provided by differential ratings), may be a more efficient way to assess aspects of the within‐family environment that are reliable and which are associated with psychopathology. Both differential parental criticism and peers' conduct disturbance were associated with conduct problems in the twins. TIRE: Twin Inventory of Relationships and Experiences; VTSABD: Virginia Twin Study of Adolescent Behavioral Development
Normative Justifications for Liberal Nationalism: Justice, Democracy and National Identity
Authors: Moore Margaret
Published: March 2003

The essay examines a prominent normative defence of nationalism, which links shared nationality with the attainment of the goods of liberal justice and democratic governance. The essay first considers the argument that liberal values, and especially the value of social justice, will best be promoted in states whose members share a common nationality. In its strong form, this argument is vulnerable to counter‐instances. A weaker version, which claims that in states divided in terms of national identities, social justice may be precarious over the long term, is more plausible. The second part of the essay argues that there is a close relationship between democracy and shared national identity. This section spells out precisely how a common national identity is helpful both for representative institutions to function properly and for widespread participation on the part of ordinary citizens.
Protest Cycle, Political Violence and Social Movements in the Basque Country
Authors: Tejerina Benjamín
Published: March 2003

A close look at the groups, organisations and social movements among which a terrorist organisation seeks refuge and support, will provide a fundamental and strategic view of its evolution. By means of the concept of a protest cycle, I analyse the relationship between political violence and social movements in the Basque Country. With the help of Tarrow's fundamental variables in the political structure, to which I have added the degree of consciousness‐raising and mobilisation in civil society, I aim to study the protest cycle of ETA's violence from its social origins at the start of the 1960s, through its consolidation in the 1970s, to its decline from the mid‐1980s onwards.

The idea I will defend is that political violence should be seen as a form of collective action directed towards a mobilisation of society, and that its vicissitudes depend on the structure of interactions set up between the armed organisation, social movements and civil society.
Shaping Women: National Identity Through the Use of Language in Franco's Spain
Authors: Carbayo‐Abengózar Mercedes
Published: March 2003

In my article I show how a very particular identity was created for women during the period of Franco's Spain. I will draw upon a varied range of materials from official discourses, particularly the Sección Femenina (the women's branch of Falange); the Álvarez Enciclopedia and other texts such as songs, poems and the popular press.

Following Foucault (1980: 30) I analyse an identity based on oppressive discourses whose power ‘reaches into the very grain of individuals, touches their bodies and inserts itself into their actions and attitudes, their discourses, learning process and everyday life’. The nationalistic stress of this discourse is one that encourages women to create a new image of Spanish femininity that should be ‘different’ from the liberated portrayal of women coming from Europe, mainly through the path of growing tourism.

The language of these discourses is somehow baroque, elaborated, energetic and highly dramatic. It tries to seek attention through an unnecessary and badly misorientated dramatism. It is cryptic and manipulative and claims to be poetical, but its main intention is to confine women indoors and to make them look at the world through the curtains or from a closed window. On the other hand it made women feel they were the representation of a unique matriarchal nationalism making them appear as the heroines of an essentialist national metaphor: women mothers of the nation.

Inherent in Franco's equation of women = femininity = nation is a contradiction that defines women as ‘indoor heroines’ and bases nationalism in a naturalised representation of gender where women are a gendered representation of this nationalism.
Privileging masculinity in the social construction of Basque identity
Authors: Echeverria Begoña
Published: March 2003

Following a framework developed by Susan Gal and Judith Irvine (1995), this article illustrates how Basque‐medium schools promulgate an androcentric vision of the Basque nation. First, male privilege is upheld in textbooks through the erasure of women's contributions to Basque language and culture, so that men appear as the quintessential Basque speakers and cultural agents. Secondly, language ideologies about Spanish and Basque recursively construct Basque ethnic identity is such a way that it centres on vernacular Basque, whose primary marker is a second person pronoun, ‘hi’, which indirectly indexes male speakers and masculinity. An iconic relationship is thereby created between authentic Basque identity, Basque culture, Basque linguistic forms and masculinity. However, I also show that women have challenged this male privilege in various domains, thereby opening up the possibility of a Basque nation that embraces its female as well as its male members.
Authenticity, antiquity and archaeology
Authors: Smith Anthony D.
Published: March 2003

If nationalism shaped the assumptions and methods of archaeology for well over a century, archaeological concepts and practices made a significant contribution to the nationalist ideal of the distinctive, territorial nation. This is partly because nationalism and archaeology shared a belief in the ethnic uniqueness and tangibility of archaeological cultures, and partly because of the influence of key archaeological concepts and practices. The latter included a profound concern with the authenticity of material cultures; the related belief in ethnic rootedness in the historic territory; archaeology's well‐known interest in the antiquity of civilisations; and its use of the stratigraphic method to analyse continuity and change. Aside from these contributions, the archaeological domain provides a repertoire of vivid symbolism in its often spectacular ‘finds’, which have been able to express and embody the nation's unique culture and the intimate nature of the national bond.
The power of national symbols: the credibility of a dragon’s efficacy
Authors: Sleeboom Margaret
Published: March 2003

It is only when symbols gain meaning as effective triggers of associated sentiments in many linked contexts, including that of daily life, that they become powerful. It is what is perceived as the proved ability of the state to correct disobedience to its rule and violation to its sovereignty that commands commitment and loyalty, necessary for state symbols to become effective. As long as the link between symbol and effect can be made credible as a natural connection of cause and effect, by rational or irrational means, by folk narrative or academic theory, triggering the national symbol works in the mind of its believers. In this article I discuss the role of academics in the creation of national symbolism. Using some examples of historical and anthropological interpretations of the notion of the dragon, I argue that the cognitive aspect of nationalism is of crucial importance to the efficacy of national symbols. Thus arguments on the dragon’ various shapes, origins and merits as totem, embryo and sea snake attach and support different symbolic and political meanings of the Chinese nation.
Sports, ‘race’ and the Finnish national identity in Helsingin Sanomat in the early twentieth century
Authors: Tervo Mervi
Published: March 2003

The main goals of this article are first to examine through Olympic sports journalism what hierarchies and categorisations of the global space and the people populating it were considered important to the national imagery in Finland at the beginning of the twentieth century and, secondly, to assess how the notion of race was intertwined with these categorisations. Sports journalism played an important role in Finland by constructing and legitimising a national imagery and by providing accounts of other races, cultures and nationalities that were considered ‘different’ from ‘us’. The article concludes that sports journalism at that time employed three major discursive practices that were aimed at constructing an image of a white, Western and Finnish nation living in the north. The ‘others’ were placed in a hierarchy, in which their position was determined by their racial background and assumed similarities/differences in appearance and behaviour as compared with Finnish males.
The new minority rights regime in Poland: the experience of the German, Belarussian and Jewish minorities since 1989
Authors: Fleming Michael
Published: March 2003

In the post–communist period national minorities have returned to the international agenda. For Poland, as for other applicants to the European Union, the treatment of national minorities is proving to be a litmus test for accession. In this article I argue that national minorities have benefited from the new minority rights regime, but I show that each minority’s ability to voice its concerns and develop its community is predicated upon the accumulation of political and financial capital. Drawing upon the experience of the German, Belarussian and Jewish minorities in post–communist Poland, I argue that political capital has been accrued through the ballot box and through scalar strategies of empowerment. Those minorities that have been unable to raise their stock of capital (namely the Belarussians) have seen themselves marginalised socially, culturally and economically despite the guarantees of the new minority rights regime to promote and protect them.
Similarity and discrimination in human Pavlovian conditioning
Authors: Kinder Annette , Lachnit Harald
Published: March 2003

We report three Pavlovian eyelid conditioning experiments with humans, designed to experimentally decide between elemental and configural learning theories. We used two different designs originally proposed by Redhead and Pearce (1995). In Experiments 1 and 2, three stimulus elements, A, B, and C, were presented in all possible combinations. All patterns were reinforced except for pattern ABC (A/B/C+, AB/AC/BC+, ABC−). According to elemental learning theories, response proportions on A/B/C+ trials should be smaller than on AB/AC/BC+ trials, whereas configural learning theory makes the opposite prediction. The results confirmed neither prediction. In Experiment 3, the A/B/C+, AB/AC/BC+, and ABC−trials were interspersed by D/E/F−, DE/DF/EF−, DEF+ trials. Again, neither prediction was confirmed. We suggest a modification of configural learning theory as a possible explanation of our results.
Large‐ and Middle‐scale Farmers in the Groundnut Sector in Senegal in the Context of Liberalization and Structural Adjustment
Authors: Oya Carlos
Published: March 2003

The article presents preliminary ?ndings of a research survey on large‐and middle‐scale farmers and the groundnut sector in Senegal. The sampling of this group of producers is justi?ed on the basis of the high degree of social strati?cation and farmers’ heterogeneity existing in Senegal, and the methodological problems associated with approaches focused on the ‘ average representative farmer’. This argument leads to a task of grouping farmers into distinct classes according to capitalist tendencies, dynamism and scale of production. The core part of the article tackles the political economy of the process of agricultural liberalization and structural adjustment in Senegal and their effects on the behaviour and production conditions of the classes of large‐and middle‐scale farmers analysed in the ?rst part.
Is Oligopoly a Condition of Successful Privatization? The Case of Cotton in Zimbabwe
Authors: Larsen Marianne Nylandsted
Published: March 2003

Zimbabwe embarked on market liberalization in the early 1990s, leading towards increasing participation of private capital in the agricultural sector. This paper examines the emergent shape of the private marketing chain for cotton in Zimbabwe, based on fieldwork conducted in the 1999‐2001 cotton marketing seasons. The privatization of the cotton marketing board replaced state monopoly with private oligopoly and competition is still seriously underdeveloped, especially on price. However, because of a concentrated market and collective private action, important aspects of earlier systems of coordination have been maintained, preventing downgrading of Zimbabwean cotton lint after liberalization. The paper concludes with a discussion about (absence of) competition and commodity system sustainability in liberalized markets.
Addressing Diversity in the Decade of Behavior: Focus on Women of Color
Authors: Russo Nancy Felipe , Vaz Kim
Published: March 2003

The Decade of Behavior provides an opportunity to reflect on the need for psychologists to develop a “diversity mindfulness” in their education, training, and research activities, a need that has never been more urgent. In this article, we focus on the lives of women of color to illustrate diversity-mindful feminist principles that may inform research and program development related to other aspects of diversity. We discuss perspectives and priorities of women of color in psychology. We consider why implementing feminist psychology's inclusive vision for research is a continuing struggle, particularly with regard to research on poor women, and identify some contributions and priorities of feminist research on women of color that relate to Decade goals of achieving a “safer, better educated, healthier, more democratic and more prosperous nation” (White, Travis, & Russo, 2001, p. 267). Understanding and incorporating perspectives of women of color in Decade activities is essential if researchers are to generate new knowledge “to prepare the world for facing emerging problems in the 21st century” (Decade of Behavior website: http://www.decadeofbehavior.org ).
Contextual Variations in Young Women's Gender Identity Negotiations
Authors: Abrams Laura S.
Published: March 2003

This article explores young women's strategies for seeking personal power and resisting gender-based stereotypes in a wealthy, suburban, White community and a working-class, urban, community of color. Semi-structured interviews with 27 young women were used to examine contextual variations in these gender identity negotiation processes. Both groups of young women were acutely aware of women's subordinate social and cultural position and this awareness contributed to some negative feelings about being female. However, their strategies for locating strength in their identities varied by social contexts. Moreover, the two groups of young women encountered distinct sets of stereotypes in their respective communities. Forms of resistance to these stereotypes led to significantly different behavior patterns. These comparisons build a richer theoretical understanding of the contextual dimensions of young women's gender identity negotiations.
Wages and Wage Determination in 2000
Authors: Watts Martin
Published: March 2003

Following the Workplace Relations Act (1996) , wages continued to be determined in a fragmented manner in 2000 via the award safety net, union and non-union certified agreements and individual contracts. Inevitably tensions arose as the full ramifications of enterprise bargaining became clear in an environment of strong economic growth and falling unemployment. The equity of the wages system was again under the spotlight with the annual re-run of the Safety Net Case in May. The Federal Government attempted to tighten the provisions of the Workplace Relations Act to outlaw pattern bargaining, but was stymied in the Senate by the Democrats. The Howard Government feared that genuine enterprise bargaining would be under threat if unions could bargain across a number of workplaces on the basis of a common claim. In the second half of the year the continued depreciation of the Australian dollar, and the sharp increase in the US dollar price of oil occurred at a time when the economy was absorbing the impact of the GST. The ACTU foreshadowed demands for wage increases in excess of $20 in the next Safety Net Case. These developments threatened the inflation targets of the Reserve Bank and could lead to interest rate increases in the new year. The capacity of a fragmented, inconsistent wage determination system to accommodate the impact of higher cost inflation and maintain equitable outcomes without a rise in unemployment will be severely challenged in the coming months. In late October the Minister for Employment, Workplace Relations and Small Business foreshadowed the use of the corporations power in the Constitution to achieve a unified industrial relations system.
The Slow and Agonising Death of the Australian Experiment with Conciliation and Arbitration
Authors: Dabscheck Braham
Published: March 2003

For most of this century Australian industrial relations has been regarded as distinctive because of the prominent role performed by industrial tribunals in regulating disputes between the parties. The role of the mainstream federal tribunal was possibly at its zenith in the period 1983 to 1990, in implementing and policing an ‘orderly system’ of industrial relations regulation. By the latter part of the 1990s the role of this tribunal had substantially diminished. The Australian Industrial Relations Commission had come under increasing attack in the early 1990s over its failure to endorse a move to a new system of regulation known as enterprise bargaining. Both the Australian Labor Party and the Howard coalition government, after its election in March 1996, introduced legislation to reduce the Commission’s ability to perform its traditional functions. The paper draws on theories of regulation, in particular the insights of Joskow and Wilson, to explain the slippage and increasing decline in the role of the Commission.
Workplace Relations and Other Legislation Amendment Act 1996 (CWLTH): Experiences of Five Australian Trade Unions
Authors: Pyman Amanda
Published: March 2003

The experiences of five federally registered trade unions under the operation of the Workplace Relations and Other Legislation Amendment Act 1996 (Cwlth) are canvassed. The findings indicate that four key issues have surfaced for these unions, Freedom of Association, Australian Workplace Agreements, award simplification and industrial action. The findings also indicate a divergence between theory and practice; the legislation has not been as devastating for these unions as many would have anticipated. The most likely explanation for this divergence lies in the individual characteristics of the unions and officials studied.
Review: Being an Older Woman: A Study in the Social Production of Identity
Authors: Abrams Jessica
Published: March 2003

Book reviewed in this article:

Isabella, Paoletti, Being an Older Woman: A Study in the Social Production of Identity
Algorithms for the Weight Constrained Shortest Path Problem
Authors: Dumitrescu Irina , Boland Natashia
Published: March 2003

Given a directed graph whose arcs have an associated cost, and associated weight, the weight constrained shortest path problem (WCSPP) consists of finding a least‐cost path between two specified nodes, such that the total weight along the path is less than a specified value. We will consider the case of the WCSPP defined on a graph without cycles. Even in this case, the problem is NP‐hard, unless all weights are equal or all costs are equal, however pseudopolynomial time algorithms are known. The WCSPP applies to a number of real‐world problems. Traditionally, dynamic programming approaches were most commonly used, but in recent times other methods have been developed, including exact approaches based on Lagrangean relaxation, and fully polynomial approximation schemes. We will review the area and present a new exact algorithm, based on scaling and rounding of weights.
An Interactive Reference Direction Algorithm For Solving Multi‐Objective Convex Nonlinear Integer Programming Problems
Authors: Vassilev Vassil S. , Narula Subhash C. , Gouljashki Vassil G.
Published: March 2003

We present a learning‐oriented interactive reference direction algorithm for solving multi‐objective convex nonlinear integer programming problems. At each iteration the decision‐maker (DM) sets his/her preferences as aspiration levels of the objective functions. The modified aspiration point and the solution found at the previous iteration define the reference direction. Based on the reference direction, we formulate a mixed‐integer scalarizing problem with specific properties. By solving this problem approximately, we find one or more integer solutions located close to the efficient surface. At some iteration (usually at the last iteration), the DM may want to solve the scalarizing problem to obtain an exact (weak) efficient solution. Based on the proposed algorithm, we have developed a research‐decision support system that includes one exact and one heuristic algorithm. Using this system, we illustrate the proposed algorithm with an example, and report some computational results.
Production and Maintenance Planning for Electricity Generators: Modeling and Application to Indian Power Systems
Authors: Chattopadhyay Debabrata
Published: March 2003

This paper describes the development of an optimization model to perform the fuel supply, electricity generation, generator maintenance, and inter‐regional transmission planning for the Northern Regional Electricity Board (NREB) of India. A review of the existing planning process of NREB revealed several areas of potential improvement. In the past, NREB did not use optimization and/or probabilistic methods in their planning. Their decision‐making on maintenance, generation and fuel allocation was being performed in a sequential and ‘fragmented’ fashion, ignoring the possibility of interaction between the generation, transmission, and fuel supply subsystems. The deterministic treatment of outages of generators, and the planning criterion of spreading demand shortfall uniformly across the regions, were other areas of potential improvement. An integrated model, using linear programming together with a heuristic, has been developed to perform joint decision‐making on fuel supply, maintenance, generation, and transmission. Monte Carlo simulation is used to incorporate the random outages of generators. The model has been prototyped using GAMS language together with a spreadsheet interface, and implemented for the NREB system. Substantial reduction in system costs is envisaged based on the results of a case study. The model is expected to aid the complex decision‐making process of NREB planning engineers in several important ways.
A Genetic Algorithm Approach to Solving Stochastic Job‐shop Scheduling Problems
Authors: Yoshitomi Yasunari
Published: March 2003

This paper proposes a method for solving stochastic job‐shop scheduling problems based on a genetic algorithm. The genetic algorithm was expanded for stochastic programming. In this expansion, the fitness function is regarded as representing fluctuations that may occur under stochastic circumstances specified by the distribution functions of stochastic variables. In this study, the Roulette strategy is adopted for selecting the optimum solution in terms of the expected value. Within this algorithm, it is expected that the individual that appears most frequently must give the optimum solution. The effectiveness of this approach is confimed by applying it to stochastic job‐shop scheduling problems. I compare the approximately optimum solutions found by this approach with the truly or approximately optimum solutions obtained by other conventional methods, and discuss the performance and effectiveness of this approach.
On the importance of sequencing decisions in production planning and scheduling
Authors: Dauzère–Pérès Stéphane , Lasserre Jean–Bernard
Published: March 2003

We discuss the traditional hierarchical approach to production planning and scheduling, emphasizing the fact that scheduling constraints are often either ignored or considered in a very crude way. In particular, we underline that the way scheduling is carried out is crucial for the capacity constraints on the lot sizes. Usual methods to handle capacity in theory or in practice are reviewed. Finally, we present an approach that tries to overcome these drawbacks by capturing the shop–floor capacity through scheduling considerations.
The Role of the Safety Net and the Labor Market on Falling Cash Consumption in Russia: 1994–96 A Quintile‐Based Decomposition Analysis
Authors: Klugman Jeni , Kolev Alexandre
Published: March 2003

This paper investigates the relative importance of changes in social safety net support and labor market in explaining the decline in the purchasing power of Russian households that occurred during the period 1994–96. Drawing on three cross‐sections of the Russian Longitudinal Monitoring Survey, we find that labor market changes have been the main cause of the observed decline in cash consumption. Among these changes, reductions in the impact of the time spent in employment and increasing frequency of wage arrears are most important, more so than increases in open unemployment or the fall in real wages among workers who were fully paid. The contribution of falling state transfers to cash consumption is nonetheless substantial. We also find that the sources of the decline in household welfare vary substantially across quintiles in the distribution.
Accounting for Environmental Services: Contrasting the SEEA and the ENRAP Approaches
Authors: Peskin Henry M. , Delos Angeles Marian S.
Published: March 2003

Both the System of Integrated Environment and Economic Accounting (SEEA) and the Environmental and Natural Resources Accounting Project (ENRAP) are efforts to expand conventional national economic accounts in order to better reflect interactions between the market economy and the natural environment. In order to maintain a close relationship to the System of National Accounts (SNA) accounting standards, SEEA adopts conventional definitions of productive sectors. However, SEEA fails to account for many valuable services of the natural environment and encourages the use of techniques that provide misleading and poor estimates of depreciation and damage to the environment. ENRAP addresses these deficiencies by explicitly recognizing that the natural environment is a productive economic sector. ENRAP encourages the use of imputation approaches that draw on techniques common in the environmental economics literature. These approaches are consistent with definitions of depreciation and environmental damage widely accepted in economic theory. The principles that underlie the ENRAP approach provide a basis for contrasting ENRAP and SEEA empirically. Using Philippine data, SEEA‐type estimates are compared with those of ENRAP.
Creating Asset Accounts For A Commercial Fishery Out Of Equilibrium: A Case Study Of The Atlantic Sea Scallop Fishery
Authors: Repetto Robert
Published: March 2003

This paper demonstrates a methodology for constructing asset accounts for a commercial fishery in which the stock, harvest, and effort level are out of sustainable equilibrium. The paper adopts the framework used by the U.S. Department of Commerce Bureau of Economic Analysis in its preliminary 1993 Integrated Economic and Environmental Accounts and follows methodologies recommended by the National Research Council committee constituted to review those efforts. The accounts were constructed for the period 1985 to 1995 for the Atlantic sea scallop fishery, a significant commercial fishery, using information obtained with the cooperation of the National Marine Fisheries Service from existing databases constructed for management purposes. No significant additional data collection was required for the purpose of this study. Differences between the net rent and user cost values of the stocks over this period indicate the inefficient exploitation of immature scallop populations.
Social Dynamics
Authors: Carmichael H. Lorne
Published: March 2003

Lutz Leisering and Robert Walker (eds.), Review of The Dynamics of Modern Society

Steven Durlauf and H. Peyton Young (eds.), Social Dynamics
Culture/economy and spaces of economic practice: positioning households in post‐communism
Authors: Smith Adrian
Published: March 2003

Many recent attempts to understand the role of household food production and forms of reciprocal inter‐household networks in ‘post‐communist’ East Europe have argued that such economic activities represent a rational response to the austerity brought by economic decline and contracting incomes during the ‘transition to capitalism’. Through an exploration of the spaces of household economic practice concerned with food production on family plots of land and with inter‐household networks of reciprocity, this paper argues that such activities can be better situated within the context of the articulation between deep‐seated and long‐standing economic practices imbued with cultural significance and current practices in the formal, emerging capitalist economy. The paper explores the inter‐section and interweaving of these ‘cultural’ and ‘economic’ practices through the lens of the largely non‐market production of surplus product, value and exchange in and between households. It draws upon research with households in two contrasting sites in Slovakia, and highlights the significance of an historical and more nuanced understanding of the constitution of conventionally conceived ‘survival strategies’ in East‐Central Europe. Such a consideration of the almost ‘mundane’ practices of everyday household production and reciprocity enables an opening of our conceptions of economic forms in post‐socialist societies.
Labour electoral landslides and the changing efficiency of voting distributions
Authors: Johnston Ron , Rossiter David , Pattie Charles , Dorling Danny
Published: March 2003

The translation of votes into seats under first–past–the–post electoral systems with single–member constituencies invariably results in disproportional allocations of seats relative to votes among the main two parties. It also tends to produce biased outcomes, with one party getting a more disproportionate share of the seats with a given share of the votes than does its opponent. In Great Britain, these biases favoured the Conservative party until the 1980s, but now strongly favour Labour. Production of those biases results from a variety of influences involving the interaction of the geography of party support with that of constituency boundaries. Increasingly, that interaction has favoured Labour: without any explicit manipulation of the constituency map to its own ends, it now benefits substantially from the equivalent of the malapportionment and gerrymandering cartographic abuses typical of the United States, because of its ability to manipulate its vote distribution within the constituency system.
The geography of venture capital investments in the UK
Authors: Mason Colin M. , Harrison Richard T.
Published: March 2003

The role of venture capital in economic development increasingly is recognized as central to the development of an entrepreneurial economy. However, the supply of venture capital is not distributed evenly across the space economy. In the UK, evidence for the 1980s demonstrated that venture capital investments were highly concentrated in Greater London and the South East, reinforcing the existing patterns of regional concentration of economic activity. This paper reviews the regional distribution of venture capital investments in the UK in the 1990s, a period of massive growth in venture capital investment activity. It concludes that the regional concentration of venture capital investment has been considerably reduced since the 1980s. However, more detailed analysis of the data demonstrates that this shift towards a less unequal regional distribution has been driven by so–called ‘merchant’ venture capital – investments in large–scale management buy–outs and buy–ins which facilitate corporate restructuring through ownership change and often have adverse consequences for employment. ‘Classic’ venture capital – investments in young entrepreneurial companies with high growth potential – remains highly concentrated in London and the South East, and also in Scotland. This reflects both supply– and demand–side factors. The Government’s new regional venture capital funds are unlikely to be effective in closing this regional finance gap. An alternative approach to intervention, in the context of the increasing globalization of venture capital investments, is to seek to attract venture capital money and expertise from elsewhere.