The State of Organizational Reform in European Firms: Evidence from a Comparative Overview of Ten EU Countries

Based on some recent surveys, the paper is intended to offer an overview of the diffusion of organisational change in European firms and their effects in terms of performance and impact on employment. Taking into account the differences in national industrial relation systems in which the changes have taken place, contrasted "national" trajectories are exhibited. Three "models" of diffusion are thus highlighted. The main conclusion of the paper is that - in spite of positive effects in terms of performance - the process of organizational change in the European firms is still timid and carried on under strict managerial control.

The state of organizational reform in European firms: Evidence from a comparative overview of ten EU countries

Based on some recent surveys, the paper is intended to offer an overview of the diffusion of organisational change in European firms and their effects in terms of performance and impact on employment. Taking into account the differences in national industrial relation systems in which the changes have taken place, contrasted national trajectories are exhibited. Three models of diffusion are thus highlighted. The main conclusion of the paper is that - in spite of positive effects in terms of performance - the process of organizational change in the European firms is still timid and carried on under strict managerial control

Building on institutional failures: The European Treaty on Stability, Coordination and Governance. Or: why the crisis in the Eurozone is so deep and persistent

The paper is devoted to an analysis of the Treaty on Stability Coordination and Governance (TSCG), also known as the "Fiscal Compact" Treaty signed between the EU member states in 2012. We argue than the TSCG, instead of helping to "repair" the institutional failures on which the Euro and the Eurozone are built, strengthens them and further weakens the construction on which the European member states operate. In this sense, the Treaty explains why the crisis in Europe is so deep and persistent, and why the member states of the Eurozone are having such difficulty in returning to a path of balance and growth. After defining the "core" of the Treaty more precisely, by describing the nature and significance of the new rules it has introduced in more detail, we explain why these rules create supplementary obstacles in the road to recovery

: Deux formes de résistance et d'alternative à l'exclusivisme propriétaire

Cet article porte sur les liens entre le mouvement du logiciel libre, les juristes anglo-saxons défendant le domaine public (Lessig, Boyle, Benkler,etc.) et la théorie des communs de l'économiste Elinor Ostrom. Il retrace l'histoire de la rencontre entre ces différents acteurs et analyse les enjeux soulevés en matière de propriété intellectuelle. À partir des exemples de la licence GPL et des Creative Commons, il montre l'intérêt d'une approche de la propriété en termes de bundle of rights (faisceaux de droits) afin de penser des alternatives à la propriété exclusive

Issues in the post-2005 TRIPS agenda

Pharmaceuticals is one of the few industries in which patents are recognized as being key instruments for privately appropriating the economic benefits of innovation. Competition is largely based on innovation, and basic science is becoming increasingly crucial for the discovery and development of new products. Pharmaceuticals also occupy an extremely socially sensitive sector: large parts of the population increasingly perceive health care as a fundamental human right. For developing countries in particular, health has become a major issue, magnified by the tragedies of pandemics like HIV/AIDS. Controversies about the welfare implications of patents have characterized this industry ever since its inception. But in the last thirty years or so, the establishment of a strong tendency towards an extremely tight IP at the global level regime has made this debate even more heated. In this work, we begin by succinctly reviewing the main problems and the available evidence concerning the relationships between IPRs, innovation and welfare in pharmaceuticals. Next, we summarize the main theoretical arguments in favour and against (strong) IPRs in pharmaceuticals and present the little direct available empirical evidence, concerning respectively innovation and drug prices. Finally, we focus on TRIPS and Access to Care in developing countries, with particular reference to the case of HIV (the most emblematic example of the problems generated by enforcement of the TRIPS agreement)

Patent regimes and the commodification of knowledge

This paper analyses the evolution of the intellectual property regime (IPR), and more precisely the patent regime, in the USA since the 19th century. To do so, we consider intellectual property laws within the context of wider changes in capitalism, focusing on two main historical phases: firstly, the period covering the formation and development of 'corporate capitalism' dominated by large corporations and then the new phase, which opened up in the 1980s, marked by the rise to power of finance. From a perspective of institutional complementarities, we seek to show how the characteristics and implications of patent regimes can only be understood in relation to changes in the main institutional forms of capitalism: forms of the firm, the status of labour (the 'wage-labour nexus') and market forms

La productique en Ile-de-France. Innovations, recherche et transferts de technologie vers les PMI (1988)

L'étude propose de suivre un triple objectif : 1- Contribuer à l'inventaire et à l'évaluation des intervenants en productique dans la région francilienne, dans ses aspects tant quantitatifs que qualitatifs (industriels et laboratoires de recherche) ; 2- Evaluer la manière dont les tissus industriels franciliens sont pénétrés par la productique ; 3- Formuler des propositions, adressées notamment au Conseil Régional de l'Ile-de-France (IdF) pour une politique de développement de la productique.Cette étude a été réalisée dans le cadre de la convention de recherche du 2 février 1988 passée entre le Centre Régional d'Innovation et de Transfert Technologique en Mécanique d'Ile-de-France (CRITT MECA) et le Laboratoire de Recherche et d'Etude sur les Mutations Industrielles du Centre de Robotique Intégrée d'Ile-de-France (LAREMI/CRIIF – Ministère de la recherche) pendant le premier semestre de l'année 1988

Intellectual Property Right Regimes, Firms and the Commodification of Knowledge

The aim of this paper is to analyse the evolution of the intellectual property regime, and more precisely the patent regime, in the USA, since the 19th century. To do so, we shall consider intellectual property within the context of general transformations in capitalism, focusing on two main historical phases. Firstly, the period covering the formation and development of \u27corporate capitalism\u27 dominated by large corporations. And then the new phase, which opened up in the 1980s, marked by the rise to power of finance. From a perspective of institutional complementarities, we seek to show how the characteristics and implications of IPR regimes can only be understood in relation to transformations in the main institutional forms of capitalism: forms of the firm, the status of labour (the \u27wage-labour nexus\u27), and market forms

Intellectual Property Right Regimes, Firms and the Commodification of Knowledge

The aim of this paper is to analyse the evolution of the intellectual property regime, and more precisely the patent regime, in the USA, since the 19th century. To do so, we shall consider intellectual property within the context of general transformations in capitalism, focusing on two main historical phases. Firstly, the period covering the formation and development of \u27corporate capitalism\u27 dominated by large corporations. And then the new phase, which opened up in the 1980s, marked by the rise to power of finance. From a perspective of institutional complementarities, we seek to show how the characteristics and implications of IPR regimes can only be understood in relation to transformations in the main institutional forms of capitalism: forms of the firm, the status of labour (the \u27wage-labour nexus\u27), and market forms

La instalación del poder financiero en Francia. Génesis, formas específicas e impactos sobre la industria

El artículo reseña las condiciones que posibilitaron la instalación del poder financiero en Francia; señala también los impactos de dicho poder en el comportamiento de las empresas, y más generalmente en la organización industrial, característica de la economía francesa en la época del fordismo. La tesis central es que a partir de las privatizaciones y de las nuevas y múltiples regulaciones y reglamentaciones que hicieron posible la instalación del poder financiero, la economía francesa perdió su modo central de coordinación de los agentes. Este modo de coordinación, tradicionalmente basado en un amplio parque público industrial y financiero que permitía llevar a cabo una política industrial centrada en el lanzamiento periódico de “grandes proyectos”, ha perdido hoy sus fundamentos.