The choice and timing of foreign market entry under uncertainty.

This papers considers the minimally required payoffs to different means of foreign direct investments (FDI), where the investment is irreversible and payoffs are uncertain. It is found that the critival profit level at which it is optimal to create a joint venture (JV) increases with (i) the share of the TNC in the JV, (ii) the uncertainty about the payoffs, and (iii) the difference in taxation between the TNC's government and the host country's government. Moreover, cooperative JVs will be formed sooner than non-cooperative JVs. Under non-cooperation, the optimal share of the MNE increases with uncertainty, and decreases with taxation. Under cooperation, the partners intend to minimize the share. The results obtained partially explain recent empirical findings on Chines JVs.Market entry; Investments; Investment; Optimal; Country; Cooperation;

The reorganization decisions of troubled firms: exit, downscale or relocate.

Decision; Firms; Management;

Employee lay-off under different modes of restructuring.

In recent years, there has been a growing concern about the effect of globalisation on employment in most West European countries. More and more firms had to drastically restructure their operations in order to survive the rise in global competition. Restructuring often leads to a collective lay-off of employees. We use a theoretical model to examine how firm and industry characteristics have an impact on different modes of restructuring. (1) Close down part of its activities and relocate abroad, (2) Downsizing through a significant decrease in employees or (3) Dismiss all employees and exit the market. Using a unique sample of Belgian firms reporting collective layoffs, we test empirically the predictions of the model. Relocating firms are found to be most profitable among the restructuring firms, have invested more in the recent past, operate in sectors with significant economies of scale and belong more often to a multinational group than firms opting for downsizing or exit. Downsizing firms are more capital intensive than relocating firms, while exiting firms are less profitable, smaller, younger and more labour intensive than downsizing or relocating firms.Belgian firms; Characteristics; Competition; Country; Downsizing; Economies of scale; Economy; Employees; Employment; Exit; Firms; Impact; Industry; Market; Model; Order; Prediction; Predictions; Relocation; Reporting; Research; Restructuring; Sector;

Globalization and the definition of the relevant geographic market in antitrust practices.

This paper starts from the antitrust practices in the European Community and the US with respect to the delineation of the relevant geographic market in dealing with concentrations and shows that relugations and guidelines at this moment focus almost exclusively on demand substitution. However, the process of globalization involves essentially global supply conditions and competition. A methodology is presented for delineating the relevant geographic market, that better takes this globalization trend into account and brings both demand and supply substitution better in balance. The practical use of the methodology is illustrated for the Volvo-Scandia merger case that was blocked by the European Commission in 1999.Antitrust; Globalization; Demand; Substitution; Processes; Competition; Working;

The effect of a multispecies probiotic on the composition of the faecal microbiota and bowel habits in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease patients treated with antibiotics

Short-term antibiotic treatment profoundly affects the intestinal microbiota, which may lead to sustained changes in microbiota composition. Probiotics may restore such a disturbance. The objective of the present study was to investigate the effect of a multispecies probiotic on the faecal microbiota during and after antibiotic intake in patients with a history of frequent antibiotic use. In this randomised, placebo-controlled, double-blind study, thirty chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients treated with antibiotics for a respiratory tract infection received 5 g of a multispecies probiotic or placebo twice daily for 2 weeks. Faecal samples were collected at 0, 7, 14 and 63 d. Changes in the composition of the dominant faecal microbiota were determined by PCR-denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE). Changes in bacterial subgroups were determined by quantitative PCR and culture. Bowel movements were scored daily according to the Bristol stool form scale. During and after antibiotic treatment, DGGE-based similarity indices (SI) were high ( >/= 84 %) and band richness was relatively low, both remaining stable over time. No difference in SI was observed between patients with and without diarrhoea-like bowel movements. The multispecies probiotic had a modest effect on the bacterial subgroups. Nevertheless, it affected neither the composition of the dominant faecal microbiota nor the occurrence of diarrhoea-like bowel movements. The dominant faecal microbiota was not affected by antibiotics in this COPD population, suggesting an existing imbalance of the microbiota, which may also have contributed to the lack of effect by probiotic intak

On the stability of research joint ventures: implications of collusion

Though there is a body of theoretical literature on research joint venture (RJV) participation facilitating collusion, empirical tests are rare. Even more so, there are few empirical tests on the general theme of collusion. This note tries to fill this gap by assuming a correspondence between the stability of research joint ventures and collusion. By using data from the US National Cooperation Research Act, we show that large RJVs in concentrated industries are more stable and hence more suspect to collusion

‘What are you going to do, confiscate their passports?’ Professional perspectives on cross-border reproductive travel

Objective: This article reports findings from a UK-based study which explored the phenomenon of overseas travel for fertility treatment. The first phase of this project aimed to explore how infertility clinicians and others professionally involved in fertility treatment understand the nature and consequences of cross-border reproductive travel. Background: There are indications that, for a variety of reasons, people from the UK are increasingly travelling across national borders to access assisted reproductive technologies. While research with patients is growing, little is known about how ‘fertility tourism’ is perceived by health professionals and others with a close association with infertility patients. Methods: Using an interpretivist approach, this exploratory research included focussed discussions with 20 people professionally knowledgeable about patients who had either been abroad or were considering having treatment outside the UK. Semi-structured interviews were recorded, transcribed verbatim and subjected to a thematic analysis. Results: Three conceptual categories are developed from the data: ‘the autonomous patient’; ‘cross-border travel as risk’, and ‘professional responsibilities in harm minimisation’. Professionals construct nuanced, complex and sometimes contradictory narratives of the ‘fertility traveller’, as vulnerable and knowledgeable; as engaged in risky behaviour and in its active minimisation. Conclusions: There is little support for the suggestion that states should seek to prevent cross-border treatment. Rather, an argument is made for less direct strategies to safeguard patient interests. Further research is required to assess the impact of professional views and actions on patient choices and patient experiences of treatment, before, during and after travelling abroad

Ultracompact, low-loss directional couplers on InP based on self-imaging by multimode interference

We report extremely compact (494-µm-long 3 dB splitters, including input/output bends), polarization-insensitive, zero-gap directional couplers on InP with a highly multimode interference region that are based on the self-imaging effect. We measured cross-state extinctions better than 28 dB and on-chip insertion losses of 0.5 dB/coupler plus 1 dB/cm guide propagation loss at 1523 nm wavelength