Suchergebnisse

The various contractual mechanisms available to the international climate-control regime to implement the Kyoto Protocol's clean development mechanism (CDM) & other flexibility mechanisms are examined. The status of the contractual mechanisms designed to advance the CDM & other flexibility mechanisms -- joint implementation & emissions trading -- is reviewed. Factors that precipitated the 1992 UN Framework Convention on Climate Change & the 1997 Kyoto Protocol agreement are discussed. Measures that must be undertaken & issues that must be resolved in order to successfully implement CDM contracts are subsequently considered. After deeming the standardization of CDM contracts advantageous, multiple contract types (eg, intergovernmental cooperation agreements & joint venture agreements) for CDM programs are considered. In addition, contract types for joint implementation & emissions trading are also pondered. Additional scenarios to which these contract forms may be applied within the climate-control regime are noted. Regardless of which contract type is selected for CDM projects, it is concluded that certain principles should underlie such contracts. 2 Tables. J. W. Parker

"Die Methodik von Lebenslaufstudien hat sich bisher auf die Untersuchung von Lebensereignissen konzentriert. Es ist aber notwendig, Lebensläufe als Ganzes und auch nicht nur als Ergebnisse sondern als biologischer und kultureller Determinanten, Ergebnis der aktiven Adaption von Lebensplänen an fluktuierende Umwelten zu untersuchen. Vielversprechende neue statistische Modelle werden hierzu von der Stochastischen Dynamischen Programmierung zur Verfügung gestellt, die aber erst seit kurzem in der Soziobiologie, und, meines Wissens nach, bislang noch nicht auf menschliche Lebensläufe angewandt werden. Ich diskutiere einige Probleme dieser Anwendungen und stelle ein einfaches Modell zusammen mit einigen unterstützenden Daten vor." (Autorenreferat)

Draws on face-to-face survey data from 1,341 Belgian respondents to explore whether voluntary association membership leads to a sense of ethnocentrism & what mechanisms might underlie such an outcome. At issue is the relationship between participation & attitudinal elements of social capital. Discussion opens with a repudiation of the assumption of positive socialization effects -- in terms of trust -- of interactions in groups, finding that the social psychological research offers no support for social capital theory & the relevance it assigns to voluntary associations. However, it is suggested that interaction with group members can produce socialization effects, but they depend on context characteristics, with value changes seen as endogenous; ie, group members are subject to socialization effects because they are influenced by the values of other members, resulting in a process of value congruence. In this light, self-categorization theory is described & four reasons for examining ethnocentrism are proffered. It is next demonstrated that self-selection for participation in voluntary associations is occurring, with education proving to be very strongly related to participation & regression analysis suggesting that members of voluntary associations will be less ethnocentric than the rest of society. Analysis indicates that, in fact, voluntary associations are subject to a selection & adaptation dynamic. Then the link between membership & ethnocentrism is articulated via a regression model, & separate organizations are scrutinized for member & group characteristics, finding that not all kinds of organizations are equally effective in reducing ethnocentrism among their members. Thus, not all voluntary associations automatically produce democratic attitudes, contrary to social capital theory. However, associational life on the whole can act as a source of social capital to diffuse pro-social values. 4 Tables, 1 Figure, 1 Appendix, 57 References. J. Zendejas

The role of various nonstate actors in implementing the Kyoto Protocol on an international level is studied. Several economic developments that affected the international negotiation of the Kyoto Protocol are identified including globalization processes, the reduced role of national governments in the globalizing economy, & the reform of the energy production industry. It is contended that the Kyoto Protocol's provisions concerning joint implementation, the clean development mechanism, & the trading of greenhouse-gas emissions have provided nonstate actors with additional opportunities to become involved in implementing the protocol. After explaining how the private sector, nongovernment organizations, intergovernment organizations, & multilateral development banks could be motivated to implement the Kyoto Protocol, examples of private actors participating in joint implementation, emissions trading, & establishing a clean development mechanism are provided. J. W. Parker

Examines the ideas & policy prescriptions associated with the proliferation of small- & medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the European Union (EU) in the context of the pervasive changes taking place in international industrial development. A model of flexible specialization is presented to explain why craft principles associated with SMEs can provide a dynamic & efficient alternative mode of organization to the traditional Fordist mass production model. This model is based on three ideas: (1) clusters of SMEs can produce goods in a highly differentiated market; (2) SMEs can take advantage of flexible technologies of production; & (3) SMEs can implement microregulation designed to enhance cooperation & balance competition. Arguments in favor of SMEs & their critics are briefly reviewed. It is suggested that the development of SMEs in the EU is contingent on a series of factors, including overall socioeconomic conditions, & EU policy measures & tools designed to assist SMEs. Extant policy prescriptions are described as either trying to alter the market conditions for, or the amount of, assistance to SMEs. While it is conceded that SMEs are so heterogeneous that it is unlikely that a single policy package would uniformly help or hinder every SME, two basic requirements seem to be universal: the provision of common services that SMEs cannot supply themselves; & a mechanism for resolving conflicts among local actors. 1 Table, 78 References. D. M. Smith

Drawing on the literature, a model is outlined that explains social movement participation as a function of spoiled or stigmatized personal identities. Four interrelated processes are involved: (1) experience of self-devaluing circumstances (deviant behavior, physical stigmata, past experiences, or membership in objectionable groups); (2) development of a stigmatized identity & sense of differentiation from nonstigmatized others; (3) anticipation of self-enhancing gains (eg, respect, acceptance) from social movement participation; & (4) decision to participate in & selection of appropriate social movement. Models specifying the relationship between stigmatized identities & indices of disposition to participate in social movements are developed using longitudinal questionnaire & interview data from a sample of 1,943 individuals initially sampled as 7th grade students in Houston, TX, in 1971, & followed through their late 30s. Analysis indicates that, though a derogated personal identity is neither a necessary nor sufficient condition for social movement participation, it is "quite often implicated" in both participation in & commitment to a movement. 4 Figures, 45 References. K. Hyatt Stewart

The creation of noncompliance procedures that address the failure of contracting parties to adhere to international climate-control treaties is examined. An overview of noncompliance procedures is presented, emphasizing how they are created & monitored. An additional overview of the 1992 UN Framework Convention on Climate Change is provided, focusing on its establishment of dispute-settlement & noncompliance mechanisms. Articles of the Kyoto Protocol that stipulate courses of action to be carried out against contracting parties that fail to meet joint implementation, emissions trading, & clean development mechanism obligations are identified & discussed. It is claimed that noncompliance procedures that combine assistance & coercion are most effective in getting contracting parties to comply with international treaties. Several issues concerning the formation of noncompliance procedures that require future attention are noted, eg, creating a list on noncompliance behaviors. J. W. Parker

Problems created by global climate change, the Kyoto Protocol's role in addressing these issues, questions that were addressed after the Kyoto Protocol's creation, & the achievements of the fourth Conference of the Parties are examined. An overview of the principal climate-change concerns identified at the 1992 UN Framework Convention on Climate Change is presented. An additional overview of the Kyoto Protocol's accomplishments, eg, the establishment of mechanisms for implementing, legitimizing, & evaluating emission commitments from ratifying countries, is provided. Several issues that the Kyoto Protocol were unable to resolve are then identified, eg, the creation of domestic policies & measures to control emissions & the implementation of a clean development mechanism. The major accomplishments of the fourth Conference of the Parties are then discussed. It is concluded that ratifying nations' commitment to the Kyoto Protocol must be strengthened & that nonratifying nations must be encouraged to accept the international agreement to contain climate change. J. W. Parker

Borders can have a positive impact upon the economic activity of a region. The reduction of the barrier effect, as achieved in the European Union, has led to a diminution in non-homogeneities in the areas situated on different sides, as well to a decrease in discontinuity as regards the flows of goods, services and information. Among the other aspects that had a crucial impact upon the regions of Europe, one might include the achievement of the single market in 1992, the elimination of customs formalities and duties, and the harmonization and mutual recognition of technical rules in each Member State. A decisive influence in the transformation of border regions into areas of economic growth was the INTERREG program, which financed interpersonal exchange projects, infrastructure investments and institutional cooperation initiatives. Regions close to the EU's internal borders also benefit from medium- and long-term cross-border cooperation and integration mechanisms, which trigger dynamic development processes in these areas. The study aims to contribute to the understanding of the factors involved in the transformation of a border region into a space for active contact and communication between different interconnected economies. In this study, we aim to identify
the role of border and cross-border cooperation in the dynamics of border regions and to highlight the main typologies and theoretical models developed for border regions.

"In many economic models, it is assumed that prices adjust instantaneously to changes of economic conditions (e.g., to shocks in demand or production costs). Since the existence of price rigidities has been frequently documented, more realistic models require that infrequent and lumpy price adjustment have to be taken into account. There are still many unresolved issues in this area, both theoretically and empirically. In this paper, we show that the dynamics and dispersion of retail prices can be investigated using price data obtained from the GfK Consumer Panel for 1995. Our results document the importance of psychological pricing points for price setting, confirming results from many earlier studies. A new aspect of our analysis that has not been investigated in the literature is the relevance of psychological prices points for price adjustment and aggregation. We interpret our findings as suggestive evidence for the notion that rigidities are relevant for aggregate dynamics in Germany. However, we also confirm that a structural aggregation theory is necessary for a better understanding of the relevance of micro-level rigidities for aggregate dynamics. In such a more comprehensive model, price data obtained from the GfK Consumer Panel might also prove very helpful in the future. Among the three other areas of empirical research that could potentially be explored with price data from the GfK Consumer Panel, the analysis of the relationship between individual price dynamics, price dispersion and aggregate inflation proves particularly fruitful. Moreover, the very disaggregated, high-frequency data contained in this data-set are almost unique. In other research areas which require that prices changes (and not only distributions of prices) are observed over time, empirical tests unfortunately suffer from the fact that time series of individual prices can be constructed only under additional strong assumptions." (author's abstract)

"This chapter discusses nonresponse to organizational surveys focusing on methodological and theoretical issues related to nonresponse. The first section provides an overview of methodologies for the study of nonresponse, including archival databases, the wave approach, the follow-up approach, and population profiling, as well as a discussion of methodological challenges in nonresponse research. The second section summarizes previous nonresponse research by examining demographics, attitudes, and organizational and survey characteristics as antecedents of nonresponse. The third section provides an integrated framework for the study of survey response. Building on previous research, we develop a model that posits several mechanisms that explain why nonresponse occurs. This model incorporates multiple levels of analysis and acknowledges the role of individual differences and situational characteristics on nonresponse behavior. In addition, we also discuss the future of nonresponse research by exploring the role of narrow personality traits, advances in technology, and organizational and national culture in survey nonresponse." (author's abstract)

In the first part of this article we survey general similarities and differences between biological and social macroevolution. In the second (and main) part, we consider a concrete mathematical model capable of describing important features of both biological and social macroevolution. In mathematical models of historical macrodynamics, a hyperbolic pattern of world population growth arises from non-linear, second-order positive feedback between demographic growth and technological development. Based on diverse paleontological data and an analogy with macrosociological models, we suggest that the hyperbolic character of biodiversity growth can be similarly accounted for by non-linear,
second-order positive feedback between diversity growth and the complexity of community structure. We discuss how such positive feedback mechanisms can be modelled mathematically.