History, Identity and Culture of the Borderland Community of Tsamantas in Epirus, North-Western Greece

Before the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire in the early part of the twentieth century, nationality was not of great significance to the people of Epirus; instead, diverse elements — cultural, historical, social and spatial — combined to form the identity of local communities, which differed from each other in terms of religion and language. However, the creation of Albania, and the protracted process of delimiting its border with Greece (1913–1926), brought about differing interpretations of ethnic identity and national consciousness amongst the people of the contested territory. This paper considers how historical events, such as the delimitation of the Greek-Albanian border, can influence local identities and cultures, and how such events help us to understand the social and economic decline of the border community of Tsamantas during most of the twentieth century. It also asserts that the possible future expansion of the European Union to include Albania might diminish differences in ethnicity in the region and facilitate the re-emergence of a distinct Epirote identity and culture

The role of clean technological change and networking in the emergence of small-scale enterprise clusters: an empirical study in the Red River Delta of Northern Vietnam

This paper reports on a survey on the environmental conditions in three small-scale enterprise clusters in the Red River Delta of northern Vietnam. The survey attempted to identify the existence and contribution of environmental innovation networks that influence the behaviour of clustered enterprises. It also sought to measure the extent of the enterprises’ exposure to regulatory, market, and community pressure in relation to government initiatives aimed at persuading them to adopt clean technologies. It appears that the most important influence is that of the enterprises’ customers (many of which are located overseas), who are most likely to be the source of knowledge in relation to new environmental technologies. The Vietnamese media (in particular, national television) are the next most important source of such knowledge, followed by trade associations. Statistical findings show that the adoption of new, clean technologies is influenced by the enterprises’ location. It was also established that community pressure to reduce pollution is mostly ineffectual, as are regulatory measures and monitoring by local authorities. (Manuscript received September 5, 2008;accepted for publication November 25, 2008)

The competitive relationships among multimarket public procurement supply companies in the single European market: A test of the linked oligopoly hypothesis.

The European Community's Single Market programme has been designed to open-up public procurement in its Member States. The literature review indicated that the nature of public procurement operations in the European Union was such that the public procurement legislation in place and the harmonisation of technical standards were neither necessary nor sufficient conditions for achieving this objective. This was because the emergence of multinational networks of conglomerate firms, which are the major suppliers in many important procurement sectors, has raised unique competition issues which cannot be analyzed with traditional models of the theory of the firm. This thesis examined one of these issues, the linked oligopoly hypothesis, which states that multimarket contact among oligopolistic firms increases their ability to exercise market power without engaging in collusion that would violate antitrust laws. That is because such contact may allow the firms that supply the public procurement sector to respect each other's spheres of influence by adopting non-aggressive behaviour in those markets for fear of retaliation in other markets important to them. The analysis of inter-company contacts of a sample of 240 leading European firms was employed for the empirical estimation of the degree of firm inter-dependence created by these multimarket contacts. These measures were then introduced as explanatory variables together with additional variables in two equation models of the determinants of firm rank mobility and profitability. Based on these regression results and on expert opinions (interviews with UK officials), the linked oligopoly hypothesis has been supported and suggests that multimarket contact and conglomerate merger may be detrimental for efficiency and for competition. They are nonetheless desirable from firms' viewpoints as means of increasing collusion and therefore market power. This presents a difficult and immediate analytical problem to the anti-trust authorities: that of market extension in the public procurement field by company merger. It also raises the issue for European integration. European integration will increase multimarket contact, which, according to the linked oligopoly theory, may decrease competition

The competitive relationships among multimarket public procurement supply companies in the single European market: A test of the linked oligopoly hypothesis.

The European Community's Single Market programme has been designed to open-up public procurement in its Member States. The literature review indicated that the nature of public procurement operations in the European Union was such that the public procurement legislation in place and the harmonisation of technical standards were neither necessary nor sufficient conditions for achieving this objective. This was because the emergence of multinational networks of conglomerate firms, which are the major suppliers in many important procurement sectors, has raised unique competition issues which cannot be analyzed with traditional models of the theory of the firm. This thesis examined one of these issues, the linked oligopoly hypothesis, which states that multimarket contact among oligopolistic firms increases their ability to exercise market power without engaging in collusion that would violate antitrust laws. That is because such contact may allow the firms that supply the public procurement sector to respect each other's spheres of influence by adopting non-aggressive behaviour in those markets for fear of retaliation in other markets important to them. The analysis of inter-company contacts of a sample of 240 leading European firms was employed for the empirical estimation of the degree of firm inter-dependence created by these multimarket contacts. These measures were then introduced as explanatory variables together with additional variables in two equation models of the determinants of firm rank mobility and profitability. Based on these regression results and on expert opinions (interviews with UK officials), the linked oligopoly hypothesis has been supported and suggests that multimarket contact and conglomerate merger may be detrimental for efficiency and for competition. They are nonetheless desirable from firms' viewpoints as means of increasing collusion and therefore market power. This presents a difficult and immediate analytical problem to the anti-trust authorities: that of market extension in the public procurement field by company merger. It also raises the issue for European integration. European integration will increase multimarket contact, which, according to the linked oligopoly theory, may decrease competition

From Public Loudspeakers to the Internet: The Adoption of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) by Small Enterprise Clusters in Vietnam

This paper discusses the impact of information and communication technologies (ICTs) on the development of clusters of small export-orientated enterprises in the Red River Delta region of northern Vietnam. Using the cluster concept, it argues that the many dormant small-scale industry clusters found in developing countries could be transformed into more vibrant entities through the adoption of ICTs. The penetration of these technologies in the export-oriented and private-enterprise sector in the Delta was found to be quite significant. The paper discusses the implications of the empirical findings and suggests a reconsideration of policy issues concerning the adoption of ICTs to foster Vietnam's economic development. Copyright (c) 2005 Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Cooling the earth? The changing priorities of EU - Asia technology cooperation

External crises such as the Bird Flu epidemic, as well as severe environmental problems, are changing overall attitudes towards research in human health and the environment. At present, the EU is putting pressure on developing countries in Asia and elsewhere to increase their environmental capacities and put forward methods of environmental management that support innovation and competitiveness. They are also being encouraged to participate in the Kyoto protocol and Bali processes on climate change. This paper aims to address the current issues faced by the EU in promoting environmentally friendly technologies in Southeast Asia, as well as to examine the opportunities for technological cooperation between Europe and Asia. It will use Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines and Vietnam - some of the EU's chosen recipients of official development assistance in the region - as case studies, in order to examine how these countries implement policies that incorporate environmental technology strategies designed to promote sustainable development. It will also attempt to identify the type of actions that are being pursued by their respective governments, with the support of the EU and its member states. Finally, the paper will suggest which types of environmentally friendly technologies and best practice could be transferred from Europe to Southeast Asia, and to the wider Asian region. © Springer-Verlag 2008