Optimising Use of Cultural Heritage

The paper gives a working definition of "cultural heritage" as collection of tangible objects related to the cultural development of a society that are inherited from past generations and are valued by contemporaries as an expression of this cultural development. The potential benefits and costs of using this assets are discussed briefly. The main focus is on analysing how the institutional arrangements under whisch specific parts of the cultural heritage are made available to potential users affect the welfare created by the use of these assets. This allows to draw some conclusions about the optimal way of using cultural heritage. -- Der Beitrag gibt zunächst eine Arbeitsdefinition für "kulturelles Erbe" als eine Sammlung von Objekten und Artefakten, die mit der kulturellen Entwicklung einer Gesellschaft in Beziehung stehen, von vergangenen Generationen hinterlassen und von Zeitgenossen als Ausdruck dieser kulturellen Entwicklung geschätzt werden. Nutzen und Kosten der Nutzung des kulturellen Erbes werden kurz diskutiert. Hauptanliegen des Beitrages ist eine Analyse der Auswirkungen unterschiedlicher institutioneller Arrangements der Nutzung auf die mit der Nutzung realisierbare Wohlfahrt. Aus dieser Analyse lassen sich Schlußfolgerungen für die optimale Nutzung von Objekten des kulturellen Erbes ziehen.Litigation fees,opportunistic suits,positive detection skill

The EU-Directive on the Legal Protection of Databases and the Incentives to Update: An Economic Analysis

The database directive, initiated by the European Commission in 1992 and due to be finalised in the near future, establishes a two-tiered system of protection, amending copyright with a sui generis rule that grants protection against unfair extraction. The terms of protection are extended if the producter makes "substantial changes" to update the database. This paper analyses the incentive to update created by the database directive. In contrast to the usual findings of the literature on the incentive effects of intellectual property rights, we find that, although in most cases the incentives to update a database are insufficient from society's point of view, the possibility of extending the term of protection by making 'substantial changes' in the database may create an incentive for excessive updating. This leads to conclusions about what should be considered a substantial change -- Die in Datenbank-Direktive, deren endgültige Fassung in Kürze vorliegen wird, garantiert Datanbankproduzenten einen zweistufigen Schutz: Neben dem Urheberrecht existier ein sui generis Recht das vor unlauteren Auszügen schützt und dessen Schutzdauer sich verlängert, wenn der Produzent die Datenbank durch substantielle Änderungen aktualisiert. Dieses Papier befaßt sich mit den Anreizen zur Aktualisierung. Im Gegensatz zu den üblichen Anreizwirkungen von Rechten zum Schutz geistigen Eigentums ergibt sich hier ein Anreiz zu exzessiven Investitionen in die Aktualisierung von Datenbanken. Produzenten nehmen Aktualisierungen auch dann vor, wenn dies gesamtgesellschaftlich nicht wünschenswert ist. Aus dieser Erkenntnis ergeben sich Folgerungen für die Festlegung dessen, was als substantielle Änderung gelten sollte.Copyright,databases,updating

Rational Samaritans, Strategic Moves, and Rule-Governed Behavior: Some Remarks on James Buchanan's "Samaritan's Dilemma"

Using James Buchanan's "Samaritan's Dilemma" as a basic example, this paper analyses the problems that have to be solved if strategic behavior is necessary to escape from dilemma situations by changing the opponents' incentives. These problems are addressed within one-shot games as well as repeated games. Furthermore, the implications resulting from the assumption of common knowledge of rationality are analyzed. By using the concept of finite automata to model strategies for supergames, the possible relations with evolutionary game theory are spelled out. -- Dieser Beitrag untersucht am Beispiel von James Buchanans "Samariter-Dilemma" die Probleme, die es zu lösen gilt, wenn "strategisches Verhalten" im Sinne der Veränderung von Handlungsanreizen durch glaubhafte Drohungen und Versprechen notwendig ist, um Dilemmasituationen zu vermeiden. Dabei werden neben den grundelgenden Strukturen "Einmalspiel" und "Superspiel" auch die Besonderheiten der Annahme von "common knowledge" analysiert, und mit dem Konzept der als finite Automaten abbildbaren Superspielstrategien Brücken zur evolutorischen Spieltheorie geschlagen.rationality,altruism,evolutionary stability,strategic moves

Policymaking, Comitology and the Balance of power in the European Union

Using simple game theory, this paper analyzes the working properties of the different procedures laid down in the comitology decision, i.e., the European Council's decision on procedures for the exercise of implementing powers conferred on the Commission. Furthermore, it addresses the question of how the balance of power is determined by this decision

The Internalisation of External Costs in Transport: From the Polluter Pays to the Cheapest Cost Avoider Principle

The European Commission mandated the consulting firm CE Delft to develop a framework for the internalisation of external costs and to devise a number of potential internalisation scenarios for further analysis. The results of their preliminary research are published in a CE discussion paper, and the Commission is now formulating draft legislative proposals which will be subjected to a consultation of stakeholders.The present report offers a critical assessment of the above mentioned CE study, provides a theoretical examination of the relative strengths and weaknesses of the polluter pays principle and the cheapest cost avoider principle in relation to the problems arising in the road transport sector, demonstrates how the cheapest cost avoider principle can be applied in practice by providing examples of external costs in road transport, and puts forward recommendations for the appropriate principles that should guide the Commission's further activities in this area.Cheapest Cost Avoider, Externalities, Transport,

Calculating Lost Profit Damages: The Missouri Supreme Court Semi-Fixed the Variable Appellate Caselaw

Prior to Ameristar Jet Charter, Inc. v. Dodson International Parts, Inc., a split of authority existed among appellate cases in Missouri as to how to calculate lost profit damages. One line of cases stood for the proposition that all overhead expenses, including fixed expenses, should be deducted from estimated lost revenues to determine lost profit damages. Another set of cases explicitly refused to deduct all overhead; those courts only deducted variable expenses from estimated lost revenue to determine lost profit damages. The Missouri Supreme Court resolved this conflict in a unanimous decision in Ameristar. The court held that fixed expenses should not be deducted from the estimation of lost revenues in the calculation of lost profit damages. This decision achieves the theory behind damage awards; it puts the plaintiff in as good a position as he would have been had the tort not been committed. The holding presents a problem, not in its reasoning, but in the rigidity of its terminology. A plaintiff will not be put in as good a position as he was before by the deduction of only variable expenses from estimated lost revenues in many cases. Some cases, like Ameristar, may involve a third type of cost, termed by cost accountants as step function or semi fixed costs. Furthermore, in other cases the deduction of fixed expenses may be appropriate. The calculation of lost profit damages should focus on deducting the costs actually saved by the defendant, rather than on the classification of the different expenses as fixed or variable. An additional problem presented by the decision is the court\u27s ambiguity as to whether the classification of expenses as fixed or variable is a question of law or fact

Rechtsvereinheitlichung beim "droit de suite"? Ökonomische Analyse des Richtlinienentwurfs der Europäischen Kommission

Der Richtlinienentwurf der EU-Kommission zur europaweiten Einführung eines Folgerechts auf Kunstwerke ist dazu gedacht, die öknomische Lage junger Künstler zu verbessern. Eine einfache preistheoretische Überlegung zeigt jedoch, daß dieses Ziel verfehlt werden dürfte. Außerdem analysiert der Beitrag, ob eine Rechtsharmonisierung in diesem Bereich überhaupt sinnvoll und notwendig ist. -- By a proposal to introduce a harmonized "droit de suite", the European Comission intends to improve the economic situation of young artists. A simple price theoretical argument shows that this goal is not likely to be reached. In addition to this, the paper analyzes the efficiency of a legal harmonization in this field.resale royalties,property rights

Spectral Statistics in Chaotic Systems with Two Identical Connected Cells

Chaotic systems that decompose into two cells connected only by a narrow channel exhibit characteristic deviations of their quantum spectral statistics from the canonical random-matrix ensembles. The equilibration between the cells introduces an additional classical time scale that is manifest also in the spectral form factor. If the two cells are related by a spatial symmetry, the spectrum shows doublets, reflected in the form factor as a positive peak around the Heisenberg time. We combine a semiclassical analysis with an independent random-matrix approach to the doublet splittings to obtain the form factor on all time (energy) scales. Its only free parameter is the characteristic time of exchange between the cells in units of the Heisenberg time.Comment: 37 pages, 15 figures, changed content, additional autho