Is More Mittelstand the Answer? Firm Size and the Crisis of Democratic Capitalism

Corporate concentration is currently being discussed as a core reason for the crisis of democratic capitalism. It is seen as a prime mover for wage stagnation and alienation, economic inequalities and discontent with democracy. A tacit coalition of progressive anti-monopoly critiques and small business promoters considers more deconcentrated corporate structures to be a panacea for the crisis of democratic capitalism, arguing that small firms in competition are better for employment, equality and democracy. This paper offers a brief outline of ideas of the anti-monopoly and small business ideal and critically evaluates whether a more deconcentrated economy may live up to the promises. While we agree that the plea for strengthened antitrust enforcement contains relevant and promising prospects for reform, our analysis concludes on a decidedly critical note. In particular, we caution against romanticized notions of the small capitalist firm

Rival Views of Economic Competition

Competition is a constitutive feature of capitalist societies. Social conflicts over the introduction, abolition and regulation of market organization are saturated with implicit moral arguments concerning the desirability of competition. Yet, unlike private property, exchange relations and social inequalities, economic competition has rarely been the explicit core of moral debates over capitalism. Drawing on a broad variety of social science literature, this article reconstructs, maps and systematizes ethical arguments about economic competition in capitalist societies. We discuss six contradictory rival views of economic competition and illustrate their influence by providing historical examples of the respective views in action in political-economic debates. This article serves as a mapping groundwork for reviving the systematic ethical debate on economic competition. In addition, our map of rival views lends itself to use as a structuring tool in empirical research on the moral economy and ideational embeddedness of capitalist societies, markets and firms.1. Introduction 2. Economic competition - systematizing the debate 3. Exploring the competition debate empirically 4. Discussion - Social context and the structure of the debate 5. Conclusion Footnotes Reference

Firm Foundations: The Statistical Footprint of Multinational Corporations as a Problem for Political Economy

The discipline of comparative political economy (CPE) relies heavily on aggregate, country-level economic indicators. However, the practices of multinational corporations have increasingly undermined this approach to measurement. The problem of indicator drift is well-documented by a growing critical literature and calls for systematic methodological attention in CPE. We present the case for a rocky but ultimately rewarding middle road between indicator fatalism and indicator faith. We illustrate our argument by examining two important cases – Sweden’s recent export success and the financialization of non-financial corporations in France. A careful parsing of the data suggests corrections to common characterizations of the two cases. Swedish exports have been reshaped by intragroup trade among foreign subsidiaries of domestic corporations. The growth of financial assets held by French firms is attributable to the growth of foreign direct investment and to cumulative revaluation effects, while what remains of financialization is concentrated among the very largest firms. Based on these findings, we propose a methodological routine that parses data by zooming in on the qualitative specifics of countries, sectors, and firms, while using all available options for disaggregation.Die vergleichende politische Ökonomie (CPE) stützt sich in hohem Maße auf aggregierte, ländervergleichende Wirtschaftsindikatoren. Die Praktiken multinationaler Unternehmen haben diesen Ansatz jedoch zunehmend unterminiert. Das Problem abdriftender Indikatoren wird durch eine wachsende kritische Literatur gut dokumentiert und erfordert eine systematische methodische Antwort. Wir plädieren für einen Mittelweg zwischen Indikator-Fatalismus und Indikator-Glauben und veranschaulichen unser Argument anhand von zwei wichtigen Fällen – Schwedens jüngstem Exporterfolg und der Finanzialisierung von nichtfinanziellen Unternehmen in Frankreich. Eine sorgfältige Analyse der Daten zeigt, dass der Handel zwischen ausländischen Tochtergesellschaften inländischer Unternehmen die schwedische Exportstatistik prägt und dass das Wachstum der von französischen Unternehmen gehaltenen Finanzaktiva auf ausländische Direktinvestitionen und kumulative Bewertungseffekte zurückzuführen und außerdem auf multinationale Großunternehmen konzentriert ist. Methodisch schlagen wir die routinemäßige Rückbindung vergleichender Analysen an die qualitativen Besonderheiten von Ländern, Sektoren und Unternehmen vor sowie eine verstärkte Nutzung verfügbarer Möglichkeiten zur Disaggregation.Contents 1 Introduction 2 The problems with measuring “the economy” Indicator critique in neighboring fields Four major fields of indicator problems 3 Growth models, export indicators, and the globalization of production Macroeconomic pattern recognition in the growth model literature The rise of merchanting in Sweden’s trade data The growth of merchanting as a problem for data legibility The decreasing value of derived indicators 4 Not so financialized after all? Firm financialization in France Disaggregating financial assets: components, valuation, concentration Financial income: From gross to net 5 Methodological ways forward: Zoom in and disaggregate 6 Conclusion Reference

Firm Foundations: The Statistical Footprint of Multinational Corporations as a Problem for Political Economy

The discipline of comparative political economy (CPE) relies heavily on aggregate, country-level economic indicators. However, the practices of multinational corporations have increasingly undermined this approach to measurement. The problem of indicator drift is well documented by a growing critical literature and calls for systematic methodological attention in CPE. We present the case for a rocky but ultimately rewarding middle road between indicator fatalism and indicator faith. We illustrate our argument by examining two important cases—Sweden’s recent export success and the financialization of non-financial corporations in France. A careful parsing of the data suggests corrections to common characterizations of the two cases. Swedish exports have been reshaped by intragroup trade among foreign subsidiaries of domestic corporations. The growth of financial assets held by French firms is attributable to the growth of foreign direct investment and to cumulative revaluation effects, while what remains of financialization is concentrated among the very largest firms. Based on these findings, we propose a methodological routine that parses data by zooming in on the qualitative specifics of countries, sectors, and firms, while using all available options for disaggregation.Introduction The problems with measuring “the economy” Growth models, export indicators, and the globalization of production Not so financialized after all? Firm financialization in France Methodological ways forward: Zoom in and disaggregate Conclusion Notes Reference

Der Mittelstand als Retter des demokratischen Kapitalismus?

Kleine und mittelgroße Unternehmen gelten als agiler, menschlicher und rundherum sauberer als ihre größeren Pendants – und ihre Unterstützung somit als breit akzeptiertes Allheilmittel für die Lösung spätkapitalistischer gesellschaftlicher Probleme. Mit der Realität hat das allerdings nicht viel zu tun

Transcriptome pathways unique to dehydration tolerant relatives of modern wheat

Among abiotic stressors, drought is a major factor responsible for dramatic yield loss in agriculture. In order to reveal differences in global expression profiles of drought tolerant and sensitive wild emmer wheat genotypes, a previously deployed shock-like dehydration process was utilized to compare transcriptomes at two time points in root and leaf tissues using the Affymetrix GeneChip(R) Wheat Genome Array hybridization. The comparison of transcriptomes reveal several unique genes or expression patterns such as differential usage of IP(3)-dependent signal transduction pathways, ethylene- and abscisic acid (ABA)-dependent signaling, and preferential or faster induction of ABA-dependent transcription factors by the tolerant genotype that distinguish contrasting genotypes indicative of distinctive stress response pathways. The data also show that wild emmer wheat is capable of engaging known drought stress responsive mechanisms. The global comparison of transcriptomes in the absence of and after dehydration underlined the gene networks especially in root tissues that may have been lost in the selection processes generating modern bread wheats

Transmission scheduling for tandemly-connected sensor networks with heterogeneous packet generation rates

A tandemly-connected multi-hop wireless sensor network model is studied. Each node periodically generates packets in every cycle and relays the packets in a store-and-forward manner on a lossy wireless link between two adjacent nodes. To cope with a considerable number of packet losses, we previously proposed a packet transmission scheduling framework, in which each node transmits its possessing packets multiple times according to a static time-slot allocation to recover or avoid packet losses caused either by physical conditions on links or by interference of simultaneous transmissions among near-by nodes. However, we assumed that the packet generation rate is identical over all nodes, which is not always realistic. Therefore, in this paper, we enhance our work to the case of heterogeneous packet generation rates. We derive a static time-slot allocation maximizing the probability of delivering all packets within one cycle period. By using an advanced wireless network simulator, we show its effectiveness and issues to be solved.12th International Workshop on Information Network Design (WIND-2020), in conjunction with 12th International Conference on Intelligent Networking and Collaborative Systems (INCoS-2020), August 31st - September 2nd, 2020, University of Victoria, Canada（新型コロナ感染拡大に伴い、現地開催中止

L-MYC gene polymorphism and risk of thyroid cancer

L-myc gene polymorphism is a representative genetic trait responsible for an individual’s susceptibility to several cancers. However, there have been no reports concerning the association between thyroid cancer and L-myc gene polymorphism. Aim: To analyze the distribution of L-myc gene polymorphism in Turkish patients with thyroid disorders and thyroid cancers. Methods: We used a molecular genotyping method, polymerase chain reaction-based restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP). We studied 138 patients of whom 47 had multinodular goiter, 13 had follicular cancer and 69 had papillar cancer, in comparison with control group of 109 healthy individuals. Results: No significant difference in the distribution of genotypes was observed between thyroid patients and controls. Carrying SS or LS genotype revealed a 1.96-fold (95% CI 0.573–6.706) risk for the occurrence of follicular cancer when compared with controls, and 3.11-fold (95% CI 0.952–10.216), when compared with multinodular goiter patients (p = 0.04). Conclusion: We suggest that L-myc genotype profiling together with other susceptibility factors, may be useful in the screening for thyroid nodular malignancy.Для ряда опухолей человека показана корреляция между риском развития опухоли и определенным вариантом гена L-MYC. Данные о наличии такой связи при раке щитовидной железы к настоящему времени отсутствуют. Цель: проанализировать распределение полиморфных типов гена L-MYC в популяции больных с доброкачественными и злокачественными поражениями щитовидной железы, включая рак щитовидной железы, в Турции. Методы: для анализа полиморфизма гена L-MYC использован метод молекулярного генотипирования, в частности, метод определения полиморфизма длины рестрикционных фрагментов, основанный на полимеразной цепной реакции (PCR-RFLP). Определение проводили в лейкоцитах 138 больных, в том числе 48 больных с узловым зобом, 13 больных фолликулярным раком щитовидной железы и 69 больных папиллярным раком. Контрольную группу составляли 109 здоровых лиц. Результаты: статистически достоверных различий в распределении исследуемых генотипов у больных с патологией щитовидной железы и здоровых лиц не выявили. Показано, что относительный риск фолликулярного рака щитовидной железы у больных-носителей генотипа SS или LS составляет 1,96 по сравнению со здоровыми лицами (при 95% доверительном интервале от 0,573 до 6,706) и 3,11 по сравнению с больными с узловым зобом (при 95% доверительном интервале от 0,952 до 10,216) (р = 0,04). Выводы: по нашему предположению, определение профиля полиморфизма гена L-MYC с учетом других факторов, определяющих предрасположенность к развитию опухолей, может быть полезным при скрининге озлокачествления узелковых образований щитовидной железы

Perspective of turkish medicine students on cancer, cancer treatments, palliative care, and oncologists (ares study): A study of the palliative care working committee of the turkish oncology group (TOG)

Cancer is one of the most common causes of death all over the World (Rahib et al. in Cancer Res 74(11):2913–2921, 2014; Silbermann et al. in Ann Oncol 23(Suppl 3):iii15–iii28, 2012). It is crucial to diagnose this disease early by effective screening methods and also it is very important to acknowledge the community on various aspects of this disease such as the treatment methods and palliative care. Not only the oncologists but every medical doctor should be educated well in dealing with cancer patients. Previous studies suggested various opinions on the level of oncology education in medical schools (Pavlidis et al. in Ann Oncol 16(5):840–841, 2005). In this study, the perspectives of medical students on cancer, its treatment, palliative care, and the oncologists were analyzed in relation to their educational status. A multicenter survey analysis was performed on a total of 4224 medical school students that accepted to enter this study in Turkey. After the questions about the demographical characteristics of the students, their perspectives on the definition, diagnosis, screening, and treatment methods of cancer and their way of understanding metastatic disease as well as palliative care were analyzed. The questionnaire includes questions with answers and a scoring system of Likert type 5 (absolutely disagree = 1, completely agree = 5). In the last part of the questionnaire, there were some words to detect what the words “cancer” and “oncologist” meant for the students. The participant students were analyzed in two study groups; “group 1” (n = 1.255) were phases I and II students that had never attended an oncology lesson, and “group 2” (n = 2.969) were phases III to VI students that had attended oncology lessons in the medical school. SPSS v17 was used for the database and statistical analyses. A value of p < 0.05 was noted as statistically significant. Group 1 defined cancer as a contagious disease (p = 0.00025), they believed that early diagnosis was never possible (p = 0.042), all people with a diagnosis of cancer would certainly die (p = 0.044), and chemotherapy was not successful in a metastatic disease (p = 0.003) as compared to group 2. The rate of the students that believed gastric cancer screening was a part of the national screening policy was significantly more in group 1 than in group 2 (p = 0.00014). Group 2 had a higher anxiety level for themselves or their family members to become a cancer patient. Most of the students in both groups defined medical oncologists as warriors (57% in group 1 and 40% in group 2; p = 0.097), and cancer was reminding them of “death” (54% in group 1 and 48% in group 2; p = 0.102). This study suggested that oncology education was useful for the students’ understanding of cancer and related issues; however, the level of oncology education should be improved in medical schools in Turkey. This would be helpful for medical doctors to cope with many aspects of cancer as a major health care problem in this country. © 2018, American Association for Cancer Education