Some Ambiguities Concerning the Development of Electronic Money

The aim of this paper is to analyse the economic efficiency of electronic money and to identify different factors hindering its growth. It is argued that electronic money might eventually make paper money obsolete. Nevertheless, prospects for the development of this monetary innovation remain uncertain due to the complexity and ambiguity of electronic money products. In particular, the paper identifies network effects and habit persistence as major factors hindering the adoption and more widespread use of electronic money.e-money, ICT, network externalities, habit persistence.

La naissance de la culture médiatique à la Belle-Époque : mise en place des structures de diffusion de masse

À partir d'un examen de ses bases matérielles, c'est à un repérage de la naissance de la culture médiatique en France autour des années 1890-1914 que convie l'auteur. Cette culture devait profondément remanier le système de diffusion des imprimés et exiger de l'appareil éditorial bien des innovations, au point de déterminer une révolution culturelle silencieuse dont l'effet a été d'homogénéiser la culture commune des Français, de les «nationaliser » par l'école et le manuel scolaire, la presse à bon marché et le fait divers, le roman populaire et sa mise en, récit d'une sourde inquétude.Analysis of material data suggests that media culture originated in France between 1890 and 1914. That culture not only remodelled the conception and diffusion of printed material, but triggered a silent cultural revolution as well through schools and schoolbooks, tabloid journalism and criminal news reportage, penny dreadfuls and the narrative anxiety they generated, it infused a new cultural consciousness into French society

Des nombres en noms : représentation linguistique en français et en anglais

National audienceNumber is the combination of a projection of sameness upon the world and the perception of plurality. A cultural object (as shown by the fact that number is not conceptualised identically in all languages) as well as an abstract form of representation aiming at universality, number is a fundamental element of discourse that somehow goes unnoticed. We shall examine the forms of its linguistic integration, from prefixes such as tri- or hemi- to precise number nouns (cent, thousand). More specifically we shall study the link between the complexity of number and the variety of its represented forms in an effort to explain the specific linguistic forms encountered at both ends of the 1-to-the-infinite spectrum.Le nombre concentre projection sur le réel d'un même et perception d'une pluralité. Objet culturel (on ne pense pas identiquement le nombre dans les langues) et représentation abstraite à vocation universelle, il est un élément discret et fondamental du discours. Nous examinerons les formes d'intégration linguistique du nombre, des préfixes comme tri- ou hémi- aux noms de nombres précis (cent, thousand). On étudiera le lien entre degré de complexité du nombre et variété formelle en représentation pour tenter d'expliquer les formes linguistiques particulières des deux extrêmes du spectre de 1 à l'infini

IS THERE A PH.D. GLUT IN ECONOMICS IN ACADEMIA?

The academic market for Ph.D. economists in academia works like any other semi heavily regulated market with a large element of government ownership and with large time lags in supply: there are shortages and surpluses, but these tend to be self correcting, with enough time allowed for adjustments. Contrary to the claims of some, there is no such thing as a chronic glut.oversupply; academic market; market process; glut; Austrian economics

The Trademark as a Novel Innovation Index

When studying the relationship that exists between entrepreneurship and intellectual property, patents receive the most scholarly attention. The attention makes sense when we consider that patents are closely associated with technical progress, grant temporary monopolies that incentivize investment in research & development (R&D), and function as vectors of technological dissemination in and of themselves. In a number of industries however, conventional forms of innovation often associated with patenting are minimal or missing altogether, and require us to look elsewhere to discern innovative behavior. This Essay highlights novel applications for trademark law to entrepreneurial activity in low-technology industries and low-financing locations around the world. This Essay illustrates both functions through the examination of trademark application activity in China as opposed to European industrialized nations at various points over the past thirty years. This Essay then discusses the many ways by which trademarks can impact the life-cycle of firms engaged in everything from social networking to men’s fragrances. In doing so, this Essay explores the varied relationship trademarks have with entrepreneurial activity in developed and developing nations, as well as in high and low technology industries. The result is a novel look at novel behavior, taking us beyond the Silicon Valley hacker house and into the farmhouses of China, the public houses of Ireland, and the fashion houses of Germany

Matière sèche des racines de manioc et aptitude à la transformation en foufou au Togo

A study on tuberisation of cassava roots at the end of the growing cycle was conducted in an on-farm experiment in southern Togo, with particular attention being paid to the roots' suitability for fufu processing. The quality of fufu, a moist, boiled-and-ground cassava paste, is better when root dry matter content is high. The latter depends on the onset of rainfall. DM declines from 39 % during the dry season to 35.5 % after the first rains, and the decrease continues through time. Farmers claim that fufu quality will differ according to whether or not weeding was done during cassava growth. The study shows that regular weeding at the end of cassava growth allowed for more tuberisation but, on the other hand, implied a faster incrase in soil moisture which rapidly resulted in fufu becoming increasingly unacceptable. Nevertheless, fufu quality always decreased in the rainy season. (Résumé d'auteur