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Brief Look (brief + look)
Selected AbstractsCOMPETITION AND REGULATION IN THE U.K. ELECTRICITY INDUSTRY (WITH A BRIEF LOOK AT CALIFORNIA)JOURNAL OF APPLIED CORPORATE FINANCE, Issue 4 2001Stephen C. Littlechild In this article, the U.K.'s Director General of Electricity Supply from 1989 to 1998 assesses the effects of deregulation and competition on the U.K. electricity industry after about a decade. Expansion of existing competitors, new entry, and further restructuring have reduced the aggregate share of the largest two generation companies from nearly 80% to 26%. Efficiency has improved and wholesale prices have fallen after an initial increase. Voluntary bilateral contracts markets are about to replace the mandatory "Pool," with centralised control limited to physically balancing the system and settling contract imbalances. Retail supply competition has been active for large industrial customers since the beginning, and 80% of them now buy from another supplier. The market for residential customers opened in early 1999, and already nearly a quarter of them have chosen another supplier. Incentive price controls on transmission and distribution have stimulated increased efficiency and significantly reduced use-of-system charges. Overall, prices for all classes of customers have fallen by 25,35% in real terms since privatisation, and quality of service has improved. California has adopted a policy that is similar in many respects, but with very different results. The problems there have stemmed partly from less favourable demand and supply conditions, but also from significant policy differences, including barriers to building new capacity, obstacles to the use of long-term supply (or hedging) contracts, retail price controls at untenable levels, and the requirement that (after a transition period) utilities pass through wholesale spot prices directly to their customers. Changes in such policies will eventually enable both producers and consumers in California to benefit from competition. [source] Issues Regarding the Composition of Capital FlowsDEVELOPMENT POLICY REVIEW, Issue 1 2001John Williamson This article considers the composition of capital flows to developing countries. After developing a taxonomy of the alternative possible forms, it presents a brief summary of the main facts and stylised facts of relevance to the topic. It argues that accessing FDI, portfolio equity, or long-term loans, as opposed to short-term loans (e.g. from banks), is well worth the additional cost, because of advantages in terms of risk-sharing, access to intellectual property, impact on investment, and lesser vulnerability to capital flow reversal. It proceeds to discuss the extent to which authorities control appropriate policy levers and concludes with a brief look at the composition of capital outflows from developing countries. [source] Liberal Nationalism and Territorial RightsJOURNAL OF APPLIED PHILOSOPHY, Issue 1 2003Tamar Meisels It asks what type of justifications could be morally acceptable to "liberal nationalism" for the acquisition and holding of territory. To this end, the paper takes a brief look at five central arguments for territorial entitlement which have become predominant in political debates. These are: so called "historical rights" to territory; demands for territorial restitution; efficiency arguments; claims of entitlement to territories settled by co-nationals; and lastly, territorial demands based on claims of equal entitlement to the earth's natural resources. These popular arguments point towards several potential criteria for the arbitration of territorial conflicts. The paper attempts to outline the morally relevant guidelines for thinking about territorial issues that flow from, or are at least consistent with, applying liberal values to the national phenomenon. It places the territorial aspect of nationalism at the head of the liberal nationalist agenda and offers an initial common ground for discussion (including disagreement) among liberals, and for the mediation of claims between nations. [source] Novel anticoagulant agents: introductionJOURNAL OF INTERNAL MEDICINE, Issue 4 2003S. Schulman Abstract Schulman S (Karolinska Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden). Novel anticoagulant agents: introduction (Minisymposium). J Intern Med 2003; 254: 308,312. In this Minisymposium three principles for anticoagulant therapy are discussed and examples of novel, selective coagulation inhibitors at the stage of advanced clinical trials are given. This introduction attempts to explain the different mechanisms of action on a broad scale, and also includes a brief look at effects on inflammation and cancer. [source] Capillary columns in liquid chromatography: between conventional columns and microchipsJOURNAL OF SEPARATION SCIENCE, JSS, Issue 17-18 2004Yoshihiro Saito Abstract Liquid chromatography on columns with small internal diameters has been reviewed as the intermediate technique between conventional liquid chromatography and microchip separations. The development of micro column separations in the early years has been described, starting with the papers of Horváth and co-workers and Ishii and co-workers, continuing into the first part of the eighties, then making a leap in time to recent innovations with small-bore columns. Based on internal diameters a classification of the different analytical HPLC columns has been suggested. The advantages of small-bore columns have been discussed, with particular emphasis on the advantage of coupling to concentration sensitive detectors when the sample amount is limited. Open tubular columns are treated as a part of the historic background. The recent developments include a brief look into the current status of monolithic columns, the use of packed nano columns and micro columns with electrospray mass spectrometry, and the potential of two-dimensional comprehensive liquid chromatography. Finally, the coupling of sample preparation to analytical columns and the future applications of the novel technological improvements to the microchip separation methods have been discussed. [source] A Canadian Copyright NarrativeTHE JOURNAL OF WORLD INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY, Issue 5-6 2008Daniel J. Gervais Copyright policy, like other major areas of public policy, requires a solid anchoring in fundamental principles. The perceived need to anchor copyright debates in a solid policy context and, hence, to develop a coherent (and hopefully convincing) narrative has been the subject of excellent contemporary research. We are indebted to a number of scholars for their work in this area. The attempt to find normative applications from a historically derived model for copyright is not either. However, the research thus far tends to provide a blurred picture, by espousing justiflcatory theories based on one or many of the following: commercial and personal Interests of authors, understood as property and/or liability rules; commercial interests of publishers and other "rights holders"; and/or the social costs of overprotection and the related economic-driven search for an optimal point of protection. This article looks at pieces in the Canadian narrative puzzle and tries to present a faithful picture of its current stage of evolution. To do so, however, a detour via England is required, because that is whence the soil from Which the Canadian narrative comes. This historical detour will be the focus of Part 1. Part III will suggest a path for the next stages of the Canadian narrative that is both consistent with international norms and hopefully useful in moving the debate forward. The part ends with a brief look at the impact that the linkage with trade rules may have on copyright. [source] | ||||||||||