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A growing number of international initiatives are being undertaken to stimulate the development of agricultural biotechnology applications in developing countries. These initiatives, which include a wide range of biotechnology research, information and advisory activities, are supported by bilateral and multilateral agencies, private foundations and, to some extent, by commercial firms.
This study, based on the results of a survey conducted by the Intermediary Biotechnology Service (IBS) at The Hague, attempts to analyse the nature and scope of these initiatives and their potential impact. The study concludes by outlining a number of planning, execution and policy conditions which need to be met, both by donor agencies and by developing countries, if the potential impact of these international initiatives is to be fully realised ...
Despite the increased capital mobility that has accompanied the trend towards liberalisation and international integration of financial markets, differences remain in financing costs and, in particular, the cost of capital, that similar businesses face in different countries. These differences have attracted considerable attention as important factors influencing international investment and productivity growth. A number of reviewed empirical studies suggest that Japan and Germany enjoyed a considerable advantage with regard to the cost of equity and, more broadly, the cost of capital compared to the United States and the United Kingdom in the 1980s. This was due to higher leverage, a much lower cost of equity in Japan and a lower cost of German firms' debt to banks. Many studies have argued that closer bank-customer relationships, and more stable prices and growth rates in Japan and Germany have tended to lower their cost of capital. More recent studies which cover the period ...
This paper presents a model of longer term interactions in the international markets for cereals, soybeans and meat, and draws policy conclusions for developing countries. The model is comparative static in nature and, largely, partial equilibrium, incorporating constant elasticity demand and supply functions. It is an extension of earlier similar models: commodity interdependence is modelled explicitly and long-run effects, of productivity growth on domestic production and of income growth on demand, are incorporated. Moreover, demand for feed, as derived from livestock production, is separated from food demand.
The focus is on policy analysis and on developing countries. The results are somewhat surprising. First, real prices of wheat and coarse grains would continue to fall under liberalisation assumptions. Second, developing countries' agricultural policies emerge as more important (in relation to OECD countries' policies) than expected, and as ...
This paper presents the specification of an investment-income model for 23 OECD countries and six non-OECD regions. The basic structure of the model -- an effective rate of return applied to the stock of foreign assets and liabilities -- is relatively simple and straightforward. A central distinction is made between dollar and non-dollar denominated foreign assets and liabilities and matrices giving estimates of the currency composition of these stocks are reported. Estimation and simulation results for the investment-income model are presented ...
With the discovery of radioactivity and ionizing radiation at the turn of the twentieth century, mankind broke new ground in science and technology. These discoveries, which we now call the “dawn of the nuclear age”,1 paved the way for hundreds of scientists and engineers in their quest to improve our standard of living through progress in science. During the last century, the research they carried out and the tools they designed have provided modern societies with unprecedented progress in a variety of fields, from medicine and agriculture to electricity production and industrial uses.2 Unfortunately, this progress came at a high price to humanity: the making of an atomic bomb.
The paper outlines how at best, international markets in military and security assistance can help state security services to provide responsive and accountable services to their populations. At worst, they can provide the tools, know-how and people to commit human rights violations and other crimes. Other aspects of this market also potentially affect state legitimacy, in particular the massive levels of corruption associated with the international arms trade. The paper suggests some entry points for the international community to mitigate the potential risks posed by international markets in mil/sec assistance to conflict and fragility, beginning with options for developing and consolidating the existing regulatory frameworks, linking controls on markets for equipment and services and then broadening out to link with other issue areas such as governance, peacebuilding and statebuilding.
In recent years there has been a growing recognition of the importance of international recruitment and movement of the highly skilled. Modern industries and services increasingly rely upon the acquisition, deployment and use of human expertise to add value in their operations. When this expertise is not available locally, employers frequently import it from abroad. This takes place in the context of two fundamental and interrelated processes: the development of internal labour markets by employers, on the one hand, and of the institutional framework by governments to facilitate the global interchange of skills, on the other.
The principal flows of highly skilled workers today reflect the global expansion of world trade, the international expansion of trans-national corporations, and the activities of institutions such as governments and recruitment agencies. Although not straightforward, there appears for example to be a positive relationship between flows of skilled labour and ...
Financial security to cover the third party liability of the operators of nuclear installations is nearly exclusively provided by the insurance industry. The recent revision exercises of the international nuclear liability conventions resulted in higher liability amounts and in a broader concept of compensable nuclear damage. This marks a new challenge for the insurance industry: its financial capacity is not unlimited, and there seems to emerge difficulties to cover the new liability in full.
Through adherence to regional trade agreements, membership in common market areas, and other international treaties, OECD member country governments have agreed to subject their public procurement procedures to a certain degree of international regulation. This paper will review the importance of legal constraints that...