Economic Aspects of the Microsoft Case: Networks, Interoperability and Competition

In this paper, we discuss the main economic aspects of the European Microsoft case; in particular, Microsoft’s refusal to supply the necessary information to make the competitors’ work group server systems interoperable with Windows Operating System. The case can be seen as an example of competition between networks. We review the relevant economics literature with the objective of understanding the motivations behind Microsoft’s strategies.Networks; Complementarities; Foreclosure; Interoperability; Antitrust

Strictness of Environmental Policy and Investment in Abatement

In this paper we model an oligopoly where .rms invest in abatement technologies and emissions are taxed by the government. We show that a stricter environmental policy does not necessarily lead to an increase in .rms.R&D investment into cleaner production methods. In fact, the emission-to-output ratio may be a U-shaped function of the environmental damage parameter. This result holds both when the government can commit and in the social optimum. When the government cannot commit, this relationship is ambiguous except in markets with few .rms. Our results further suggest that if the emission-to-output ratio is decreasing throughout, output is a U-shaped function of the environmental damage.Environmental innovation; environmental taxation; commitment; oligopoly

Entry and Exit in a Liberalised Market.

We analyze the determinants of entry and exit in the European Airline Markets in the post-liberalization period. Unlike previous studies, we find that the presence of charter or seasonal operators and the level of quality provided by the incumbents are relevant to explain entry and exit. Differential traits in the main low cost airlines' entry and exit behavior are also analysed.Entry, Exit, Airlines, Conditional Logit

Is Emission Intensity or Output U-shaped in the Strictness of Environmental Policy

In a model where firms face a continuous choice of how much to invest in environmental innovation, we show that an ever stricter environmental policy does not always lead to ever cleaner production methods and ever lower production of polluting goods. It does so when the abatement technology is end-of-pipe. When the abatement technology is integrated however, either emission intensity or output is U-shaped in the strictness of policy. If the emission intensity is U-shaped, it will reach its lowest value at the point where the Marginal Abatement Cost curves intersect. These results hold with emission taxation (whether firms are price-takers or they interact strategically on the output market) as well as in the social optimum

Multiple shifts and fractional integration in the us and uk unemployment rates

This paper analyses the long-run behaviour of the US and UK unemployment rates by testing for possibly fractional orders of integration and multiple shifts using a sample of over 100 annual observations. The results show that the orders of integration are higher than 0 in both series, which implies long memory. If we assume that the underlying disturbances are white noise, the values are higher than 0.5, i.e., nonstationary. However, if the disturbances are autocorrelated, the orders of integration are in the interval (0, 0.5), implying stationarity and mean-reverting behaviour. Moreover, when multiple shifts are taken into account, unemployment is more persistent in the US than in the UK, implying the need for stronger policy action in the former to bring unemployment back to its original level

Once only principle: Benefits, barriers & next steps

The Once-Once Principle (OOP) suggests that citizens and businesses should have the right to supply information only once to a public administration. It would then be the responsibility of public administration offices to take all necessary actions in order to internally share this data by respecting the relevant data protection rules. The overall aim is to reduce administrative burden. The implementation of the OOP is high on the political agenda of many countries including the Member States of the European Union. The aim of this panel is to enable an open discussion between the panelists and the audience in order to exchange good practices and also identify and prioritize benefits and barriers as well as possible next steps towards widely implementing the once only principle in public service provisioning

Electrocardiographic Criteria in Takotsubo Cardiomyopathy and Race Differences Asians Versus Caucasians

Depto. de FisiologíaFac. de MedicinaTRUEpu

Indicators of acid mine drainage in an affected system: the case of the mine Santo António de Penedono

O presente estudo descreve os efeitos da evolução geoquímica e mineralógica dos resíduos mineiros acumulados na escombreira de Santo António de Penedono, Penedono. Mediante a aplicação de diferentes tipos de indicadores: físico-químicos, ecológicos e mineralógicos, descrevem-se as propriedades do ambiente de drenagem superficial. Os resultados demonstram o caráter ácido do efluente e sugerem a eficácia de algas acidófilas como indicadoras de contaminação mineira. A análise mineralógica põe em evidência o papel dos precipitados de drenagem ácida no controle da mobilidade de poluentes, em especial do arsénio.The present study describes the effects of geochemical and mineralogical evolution of Penedono mine waste-dumps by applying different types of indicators: physical-chemical, ecological and mineralogical. The results obtained demonstrated the typical sulfated nature of acid mine drainage (AMD) and suggested the effectiveness of acidophilic algae as indicators of mining pollution. Mineralogical analysis by X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy highlights the role of AMD-precipitates controlling the mobility of pollutants, in particular of arsenic.(undefined