Considerations on international rules for competition policy in the case of high-technology products and services

Issues in high-technology development, production and trade have been a major cause for frictions in international economic relations in recent years. A future change for the better is not yet in sight, notwithstanding the accomplishments of the Uruguay Round of multilateral trade negotiations, hi order to contain or to reduce the conflict potential evidently existing in the field of international competition in high technology, it is widely held that it seems necessary to reshape the existing global framework for hightechnology competition. Taking into account the lessons from the protectionist races during the inter-war period, the conclusion is that only an adequate advance in international economic law can, at least in principle, be considered as a promising route towards any kind of problem resolution. In the case of globalizing markets and mutually integrating national economies, the question is becoming increasingly irresistible of why global economic relations should be subdued to a different set of rules than national economies - as expressed in the respective national competition laws. There is in fact every reason to treat foreign subjects always in the same manner as domestic subjects (,,national treatment in the GATT-language). This would have far-reaching consequences. And there is a for-rider for all this institutional change, namely the Government Procurement Agreement. If the disciplines embodied in the GPA were to be generalised, one would in fact end up in a more or less world-wide internal market where any economic agent of whatever country's origin would be entitled to sue against any other country's undue government behaviour in commercial policies

International arms trade: Revealed political preferences or cartel behaviour?

On the basis of a world matrix of international trade in majorconventional weapons for 1985, a comparison is made between the regional structure of arms trade and the regional structure of trade in civilian goods from a comparable technological background. It turns out that there are striking divergencies between both kinds of trade structures, even within military alliances. These divergencies are then captured by an indicator which is named revealed political preference (RPP). It is argued that introducing a free-trade regime within NATO and other industrialised western countries would make arms trade increase, and, in particular, make the shares of Japan and West Germany in arms exports rise manifold, thereby raising world economic welfare. It is suggested that different hypotheses for explaining world arms-trade structures are relevant according to the region analysed, like the trading-with-the-enemy hypothesis with respect to the arms trade between advanced and less-developed countries, or the military-industrial-complex hypothesis for arms trade within alliances.

Growth, growth fluctuations, and the stages of technological advance

It is a well-established tradition to define the subject before embarking on an investigation. In our case, definition is to be concerned with economic development and scientific-technical progress. The former poses no problem in the economist's profession. According to Mirabeau, every moral or physical advance can be grasped by one indicator, which he called the net product. Today, Mirabeau would probably encounter objections as far as the measurement of moral progress by the net product is concerned, although some would argue that also today morals, as well as gods, are always with the winners. Anyhow, real changes in the availability of goods and services is, according to national and international standards, measured by changes in real net social product; conceptual problems - e.g., of how to treat the non-pecuniary costs (environmental pollution) and benefits (value added of housewives) - are, of course, part of every measurement. What matters here is that the approach as such is hardly controversial.

Comparative invention performance of major industrial countries: Patterns and explanations

The paper firsjt presents an analysis of invention performance; as measured by patenting activities, of six countries (France, Italy, Japan, United Kingdom, USSR, West Germany) relative to the United States for 41 SIC industries over the past twenty years. It turns out that Non U.S. countries as a whole have increased their (relative) invention performance in all fields of technology, including high technology fields. In the second section hypotheses which can be supposed to explain the relative decline of the United States' patenting activities are discussed and tested. There is strong evidence that catching up processes as well as integration effects contributed most to the relative decrease of the United States; there also is evidence, that government interventions regarding technology production have had counter-productive effects in the United States.

Towards a funded system of social security: Design and implications ; the case of Germany

What would a feasible system of social security in Germany have looked like in the year of 1995 and beyond? In order to find an answer we describe three base systems: ( l ) a purely funded system of social security, (2) a fully mandatory funded system of social security, and (3) a partially mandatory funded system. It is argued that - neglecting problems of transition - a purely funded system would be the best in economic terms; a fully mandatory funded system would need almost as many controls as the currently prevailing system (often labelled pay-asyou- go system). A partially mandatory funded system, assuring some kind of basic income, would need less controls and less governmental authority than the fully mandatory system but more than a funded system. After quantification of two scenarios which represent components of the three base systems, a system of taxation with respect to contributions and/or benefits is discussed which is at the same time simple in terms of costs of bureaucracy and does not tax economic growth more than necessary.

Institutional change in search of the market: The case of Slovenia

Six main characteristics of an economic order are discussed and empirically evaluated for the case of Slovenia. All of them pertain to the institutional setting ab urbe condita; they comprise the legal and jurisdictional situation, the role of private property, the institutionalised strive at competition among firms and individuals, the liberty of markets, the solution of the big assignment problem, and the approach to foreign-trade relations. All six aspects impinge upon the conditions which confront investors in material and in human capital in Slovenia. The analysis shows that Slovenia has had, for three years now, by and large the same problems that other countries in transition had. For example, it still has, among others, tight regulations regarding foreign exchange transactions, and a highly socialist property system burdened with too complicated procedures of privatisation. The authors conclude that in Slovenia, as in the other formerly socialist economies, transformation should first and foremost aim at being coherent. Secondly, first things should come first; the first thing would be to privatise. With a proper approach of institutional reforms there should be no barrier to achieving two-digit rates of real growth, just like Germany had after transition into a market economy in 1949.

Towards a funded system of social security: Design and implications - The case of Germany -

What would a feasible system of social security in Germany have looked like in the year of 1995 and beyond? In order to find an answer we describe three base systems: ( l ) a purely funded system of social security, (2) a fully mandatory funded system of social security, and (3) a partially mandatory funded system. It is argued that - neglecting problems of transition - a purely funded system would be the best in economic terms; a fully mandatory funded system would need almost as many controls as the currently prevailing system (often labelled pay-asyou- go system). A partially mandatory funded system, assuring some kind of basic income, would need less controls and less governmental authority than the fully mandatory system but more than a funded system. After quantification of two scenarios which represent components of the three base systems, a system of taxation with respect to contributions and/or benefits is discussed which is at the same time simple in terms of costs of bureaucracy and does not tax economic growth more than necessary

Growth, growth fluctuations, and the stages of technological advance

It is a well-established tradition to define the subject before embarking on an investigation. In our case, definition is to be concerned with economic development and scientific-technical progress. The former poses no problem in the economist's profession. According to Mirabeau, every moral or physical advance can be grasped by one indicator, which he called the net product. Today, Mirabeau would probably encounter objections as far as the measurement of moral progress by the net product is concerned, although some would argue that also today morals, as well as gods, are always with the winners. Anyhow, real changes in the availability of goods and services is, according to national and international standards, measured by changes in real net social product; conceptual problems - e.g., of how to treat the non-pecuniary costs (environmental pollution) and benefits (value added of housewives) - are, of course, part of every measurement. What matters here is that the approach as such is hardly controversial

Renditen in der deutschen gesetzlichen Alterssicherung

Berechnungen über die Rentabilität des herrschenden Systems der gesetzlichen Alterssicherung kommen zu unterschiedlichen Ergebnissen. Lohnt sich künftig für den sozialversicherungspflichtig Beschäftigten die Einzahlung der Beiträge in die staatliche Alterssicherung