Balkan Corruption Perception: Impediments To Competitive Activity In Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, FYROM, Serbia/Montenegro, And Slovenia

Corruption exists around the world in various forms. This paper examines the extent of political corruption in the countries that were formerly known as Yugoslavia. Data from the World Bank Institute and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development Business Environment and Economic Performance Study (BEEPS) was used to examine the extent of corruption in these five regions from 2002 to 2005. Results show less corruption in Slovenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Croatia than in FYROM (former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia), Serbia, and Montenegro. Overall all countries appear to have less corruption in 2005 than in 2002

Corruption Perceptions in the Caucasus: Impediments to Business Activity in Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia

Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia were bound together under Soviet direction for most of the twentieth century. When the veneer of centralized control was wiped away in the 1990’s, political, economic, and ethnic differences re-emerged after decades of being suppressed. This paper utilizes the Business Environmental and Enterprise Performance Survey (BEEPS) data from 2002, 2005, and 2009 studies gathered by a joint initiative of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the World Bank to assess the environment for private enterprise and business development in transitioning economies. Crime and Corruption categories of the BEEPS studies were examined teasing out the shades of similarities and differences between and among the three countries. A series of BEEPS questions about “informal gift/payment expectations or requests” for a variety of business services or requirements reveals some of the impediments to conducting business as these countries moved away from a command economy. The paper shows the shifting importance in the 2002-2009 time period of these subtle and not so subtle extraction of payments for businesses both within these three countries and among the three countries. Changes were often not in a consistent pattern; explanations for the inconsistencies are beyond the scope of this paper.The general trend for the three countries showed Georgian firms perceive fewer informal gift/payment expectations or requests than Armenian firms. Armenian firms perceive fewer informal gift/payment expectations or requests than Azerbaijan firms. For example, in 2009 no Georgian firms, 15% of Armenian firms, and 52% of Azerbaijan firms reported an informal gift/payment expectation or request for permit applications. In addition, no Georgian firms, 10% of Armenian firms, and 21% of Azerbaijan firms stated an informal gift/payment was expected or requested when applying for an operating license. Another trend revealed fewer informal gift/payment expectations or requests in 2009 than in 2002. However, occasionally firms reporting such expectations or requests spiked in 2005. For example, in 2002 18% of firms, in 2005 21% of firms, and in 2009 eight percent of firms revealed informal gift/payment expectations or requests for an electrical connection. During tax inspections 53% of firms in 2002, 62% of firms in 2005, and 15% of firms in 2009 received informal gift/payment expectations or requests. Firms considering exporting to these countries should be aware informal gift/payment expectations or requests may be experienced when importing to or setting up joint ventures in these countries. The prudent firm will conduct their own research on local business conditions before doing business in a country. For many issues it appears these corrupt practices may be declining so the outlook in the future is positive

CORRUPTION AND OBSTACLES FOR CONDUCTING BUSINESS IN FORMER FRENCH WEST AFRICA

This study examines the extent of corruption and obstacles to conducting business in some former French West Africa countries. Methodology: This study uses business owner’s and mangers perceptions about the use of gifts or informal payments and obstacles to conducting business in five African countries.  Data comes from the World Bank Institute and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development’s Business Environment and Economic Performance study.  Data from Benin, Burkina Faso, Niger, Senegal, and Togo were examined.  Univariate general linear analysis was used to discover statistical differences between factors by country. Main Findings: Results show Senegalese managers and owners perceived the lowest obstacles to conducting business among the five countries.  Togo business managers and owners are slightly less positive about obstacles they face in their businesses.  Businesses in the five countries on average pay about eight percent of their annual sales as gifts/informal payments. Limitations: The study uses data that is about ten years old.  The political and economic environment may have changed in these countries since data collection. Social Implications: The significant level of obstacles business faces in these countries may significantly reduce foreign direct investment in these countries.  Electricity is an obstacle in most of these countries reducing the ability if not the interest in conducting business. Originality/Novelty of the Study: The French strategy in this region for three hundred years was to rule through the military not the development of economic systems.  The results of this strategy may still be apparent in the number and degree of obstacles facing business only 50 years after independence

Comparison Of Finnish, American, And New Zealand Franchisee Satisfaction

Franchising is growing as a business model in many countries.  We test a model of franchisee satisfaction across three countries to examine the model’s predictive and measure reliability.  The multi-dimensional franchisee satisfaction model is a significant and reliable predictor of general franchisee satisfaction in different cultures.  Franchise systems looking for an efficient method of measuring and predicting franchisee satisfaction can rely on the model to aid their efforts of managing the franchisor-franchisee relationship.  In the future the model should be tested in other industries, cultures, and with larger samples

Photonic mode density effects on single-molecule fluorescence blinking

We investigated the influence of the photonic mode density (PMD) on the triplet dynamics of individual chromophores on a dielectric interface by comparing their response in the presence and absence of a nearby gold film. Lifetimes of the excited singlet state were evaluated in ordet to measure directly the PMD at the molecules position. Triplet state lifetimes were simultaneously determined by statistical analysis of the detection time of the fluorescence photons. The observed singlet decay rates are in agreement with the predicted PMD for molecules with different orientations. The triplet decay rate is modified in a fashion correlated to the singlet decay rate. These results show that PMD engineering can lead to an important suppression of the fluorescence, introducing a novel aspect of the physical mechanism to enhance fluorescence intensity in PMD-enhancing systems such as plasmonic devices

ICAR: endoscopic skull‐base surgery

n/

A comprehensive analysis of common genetic variation around six candidate loci for intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy.

OBJECTIVES: Intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy (ICP) has a complex etiology with a significant genetic component. Heterozygous mutations of canalicular transporters occur in a subset of ICP cases and a population susceptibility allele (p.444A) has been identified in ABCB11. We sought to expand our knowledge of the detailed genetic contribution to ICP by investigation of common variation around candidate loci with biological plausibility for a role in ICP (ABCB4, ABCB11, ABCC2, ATP8B1, NR1H4, and FGF19). METHODS: ICP patients (n=563) of white western European origin and controls (n=642) were analyzed in a case-control design. Single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers (n=83) were selected from the HapMap data set (Tagger, Haploview 4.1 (build 22)). Genotyping was performed by allelic discrimination assay on a robotic platform. Following quality control, SNP data were analyzed by Armitage's trend test. RESULTS: Cochran-Armitage trend testing identified six SNPs in ABCB11 together with six SNPs in ABCB4 that showed significant evidence of association. The minimum Bonferroni corrected P value for trend testing ABCB11 was 5.81×10(-4) (rs3815676) and for ABCB4 it was 4.6×10(-7)(rs2109505). Conditional analysis of the two clusters of association signals suggested a single signal in ABCB4 but evidence for two independent signals in ABCB11. To confirm these findings, a second study was performed in a further 227 cases, which confirmed and strengthened the original findings. CONCLUSIONS: Our analysis of a large cohort of ICP cases has identified a key role for common variation around the ABCB4 and ABCB11 loci, identified the core associations, and expanded our knowledge of ICP susceptibility