What's in a Sign? Trademark Law and Economic Theory

Abstract: The aim of this paper is to summarise the extant theory as it relates to the economics of trademark, and to give some suggestions for further research with reference to distinct streams of literature. The proposed line of study inevitably looks at the complex relationship between signs and economics. Trademark is a sign introduced to remedy a market failure. It facilitates purchase decisions by indicating the provenance of the goods, so that consumers can identify specific quality attributes deriving from their own, or others', past experience. Trademark holders, on their part, have an incentive to invest in quality because they will be able to reap the benefits in terms of reputation. In other words, trademark law becomes an economic device which, opportunely designed, can produce incentives for maximising market efficiency. This role must, of course, be recognised, as a vast body of literature has done, with its many positive economic consequences. Nevertheless, trademark appears to have additional economic effects that should be properly recognized: it can determine the promotion of market power and the emergence of rent-seeking behaviours. It gives birth to an idiosyncratic economics of signs where very strong protection tends to be assured, even though the welfare effects are as yet poorly understood. In this domain much remains to be done and the challenge to researchers is open

Body mass index and circulating oestrone sulphate in women treated with adjuvant letrozole

Background: Obesity is an independent adverse prognostic factor in early breast cancer patients, but it is still controversial whether obesity may affect adjuvant endocrine therapy efficacy. The aim of our study (ancillary to the two clinical trials Gruppo Italiano Mammella (GIM)4 and GIM5) was to investigate whether the circulating oestrogen levels during treatment with the aromatase inhibitor letrozole are related to body mass index (BMI) in postmenopausal women with breast cancer. Methods: Plasma concentration of oestrone sulphate (ES) was evaluated by radioimmunoassay in 370 patients. Plasma samples were obtained after at least 6 weeks of letrozole therapy (steady-state time). Patients were divided into four groups according to BMI. Differences among the geometric means (by ANOVA and ANCOVA) and correlation (by Spearman's rho) between the ES levels and BMI were assessed. Results: Picomolar geometric mean values (95% confidence interval, n=patients) of circulating ES during letrozole were 58.6 (51.0-67.2, n=150) when BMI was <25.0 kg m-2; 65.6 (57.8-74.6, n=154) when 25.0-29.9 kg m-2; 59.3 (47.1-74.6, n=50) when 30.0-34.9 kg m -2; and 43.3 (23.0-81.7, n=16) when 6535.0 kg m-2. No statistically significant difference in terms of ES levels among groups and no correlation with BMI were observed. Conclusions: Body mass index does not seem to affect circulating oestrogen levels in letrozole-treated patient

Simulating the Impact on the Local Economy of Alternative Management Scenarios for Natural Areas

This working paper estimates the impact on the local economy of the High Garda Natural Park of alternative management scenarios for the West Garda Regional Forest. The local economy is specialized in tourist services and strongly linked to the tourist presence and their level of expenditure. We wish to investigate the effects of the participative management strategy, which takes into account users preferences and the non-participative strategy, using the SAM multiplier analysis. The local SAM has been constructed considering three sectors: agriculture, tourism and a third aggregate sector including all the other activities. The resident population has been divided into two categories: residents employed in the tourist sector and the remaining resident population. The SAM analysis shows that the accounting representation of the local economy is meaningful and that the participative program, if chosen by the central regional management, would be the most desirable program also at the local level

Application of Technological Control Measures on Vehicle Pollution: A Cost-Benefit Analysis in China

For the past two decades, China has experienced strong, continuous economic growth. At the same time, the number of motor vehicles in China has rapidly increased. As a direct result of such a phenomenon, China has been registering significant increases in air pollution. In spite of recent advances in air pollution control, it remains a serious problem for Chinas major cities, and constitutes an important issue in the agenda of its policy makers. The object of this paper is to explore the use of cost-benefit analysis (CBA) to evaluate and rank alternative policy scenarios regarding the control of air pollution emitted by motor vehicles. The empirical analysis carried out relates specifically to the Chinese context, over a twenty year period, from 2001 to 2020, and focuses on emission changes of the following three principal pollutants: CO, HC and NOx

Investment in Hospital Care Technology Under Different Purchasing Rules: A Real Option Approach

In this article, we analyse the optimal investment decision in a new health care technology of a representative hospital that maximises its surplus in an uncertain environment. The new technology allows the hospital to increase the quality level of the care provided, but the investment is irreversible. The article uses the framework of the real option literature to show how the purchasing rules might influence the level of investment. We show that the investment in new technology is best incentivate within a long term contract where the number of treatments reimbursed depends on the level of investment made in the period when the technology is new. In this way, asymmetry of information does not affect the outcome of the contract. In our model in fact the purchaser can verify the level of the investment only at the end of each period but the purchasing rule has an anticipating effect on the decision to invest

Precautionary Effect and Variations of the Value of Information

For a sequential, two-period decision problem with uncertainty and under broad conditions (non-finite sample set, endogenous risk, active learning and stochastic dynamics), a general sufficient condition is provided to compare the optimal initial decisions with or without information arrival in the second period. More generally the condition enables the comparison of optimal decisions related to different information structures. It also ties together and clarifies many conditions for the so-called irreversibility effect that are scattered in the environmental economics literature. A numerical illustration with an integrated assessment model of climate-change economics is provided