French and German export results - An Analysis by sector and Partner-Country

Since the beginning of the decade, French exports in goods and services have grown less dynamically than German ones. Indeed, independently of any exchange-rate mechanism, the ratio of French to German exports in manufactured goods in current prices dropped by 3.3% on average per year between 2000 and 2003. Through a descriptive analysis, we attempt to identify the stylized facts behind Frances poorer trade results relatively to Germany. We base our analysis on OECD international trade statistics (STAN bilateral trade database). In particular, we consider Frances and Germanys export declarations by sector and by partner-country. France lost market shares with respect to Germany in the majority of the manufacturing sectors between 2000 and 2003. These losses were particularly pronounced in the technologically intensive sectors of machines and equipments and transports. Regarding the geographical destination of exports, France has lost market shares relatively to Germany with respect to their two principal partners, i.e. the Euro-zone and the United States. In 2003, France nevertheless regained a fraction of the market shares lost over the 2000-2002 period. Recently, Germany has breached the gap with France even further on the Chinese imports market. It seems to have been in a better position to profit from the dynamic growth of the Chinese economy through its exports.International trade, industrial studies: manufacturing, export performances, comparison of France and Germany

Intrafirm trade, taxation and transfer pricing: evidence from French data

An important share of international exchanges take place within multinational firms, according to internal transfer prices. These prices can be influenced by cross-country differences in corporate taxation. A multinational group can reduce its global fiscal burden through overpricing of goods moving from low-tax to hight tax-countries. Several studies confirm such an influence, most of them on American data. This paper aims at providing insights about the French case, characterized by a relatively high level of corporate taxation. The empirical analysis is based on a survey which provides micro-data on the intra-firm trade of French affiliates of multinational firms and therefore enables to investigate to which extent international differences in company taxation influence the pricing of intra-firm transactions. Our main result indicates that a statutory corporate income tax rate in the foreign country one percentage point higher is associated with an (standardized) intra-firm trade balance relative to this country that is almost two percentage points higher.transfer pricing, corporate income tax, intra-firm trade, multinational firms

France's export performances compared to those of its main partners

This paper compares Frances export performances to those of five similar exporting countries (Germany, Spain, the United Kingdom, Italy and Japan). The analysis is decomposed by geographical destination of the exports (44 partner countries) and by sector (12 industrial sectors). Trade flows are characterized in terms of prices and volumes. The data come from the OECD (OECDs STAN database and INSEEs FLUBIL database, constructed with OECD data). The econometric analysis is based on a structural trade model, inspired by the new international trade theory. The model establishes a relationship between relative market shares and a set of explanatory variables, among which relative prices. We identify a few stylised facts regarding the change in Frances market shares, relatively to that of the five other exporting countries considered: - In industrialized markets, the relative market shares are relatively well explained, in the structural model, by the industry-size and price-competitiveness effects. Over the 1992-2003 period, France gained market shares with respect to Japan and the United Kingdom, but lost market shares relatively to the three other exporting countries. However, the size of these trends is limited, except when Frances performances are compared to those of Spain, where catching-up effects are probably predominant. - Ceteris paribus, and in particular price-competitiveness and industry-size, France tends to lose market shares relatively to the five other countries considered between 1992 and 2003, essentially in emerging markets. - Finally, the analysis of the results that are left unexplained by the structural model shows that these changes in relative market shares are mainly of a cyclical nature. This is particularly clear in the case of the comparison between Frances and Germanys export performances.International trade, market shares, exports

Are Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells a Step towards Modeling Pediatric Leukemias?

Despite enormous improvements in pre-clinical and clinical research, acute leukemia still represents an open challenge for pediatric hematologists; both for a significant relapse rate and for long term therapy-related sequelae. In this context, the use of an innovative technology, such as induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), allows to finely reproduce the primary features of the malignancy and can be exploited as a model to study the onset and development of leukemia in vitro. The aim of this review is to explore the recent literature describing iPSCs as a key tool to study different types of hematological malignancies, comprising acute myeloid leukemia, non-down syndrome acute megakaryoblastic leukemia, B cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia, and juvenile myelomonocytic leukemia. This model demonstrates a positive impact on pediatric hematological diseases, especially in those affecting infants whose onsets is found in fetal hematopoiesis. This evidence highlights the importance of achieving an in vitro representation of the human embryonic hematopoietic development and timing-specific modifications, either genetic or epigenetic. Moreover, further insights into clonal evolution studies shed light in the way of a new precision medicine era, where patient-oriented decisions and therapies could further improve the outcome of pediatric cases. Nonetheless, we will also discuss here the difficulties and limitations of this model

I CONTRATTI DI INTERMEDIAZIONE E LA GARANZIA PRESTATA DALL'INTERMEDIARIO

L’introduzione del divieto legislativo della stipulazione dello star del credere determina una diversità di trattamento giuridico delle convenzioni attraverso cui l’intermediario assume il rischio dell’inadempimento del terzo. L’esigenza di recuperare la discrasia del sistema spinge ad interrogarsi sulla natura giuridica delle convenzioni, ricostruita attraverso l’analisi dei rischi trasposti e degli interessi sottesi al rapporto tra imprenditore ed intermediario. Dall’individuazione del tipo di rischio trasferito e dalla giustificazione causale del trasferimento consegue l’accertamento dei criteri che devono presiedere alla ripartizione dei rischi tra imprenditore ed intermediario. L’utilizzo dei criteri selezionati è garantito dall’operatività, in sede di giudizio di meritevolezza, dei principi di ragionevolezza e di proporzionalità. Tali principi incidono anche sulla piano della valutazione di efficienza strumentale della legge, conducendo all’individuazione di una sanzione, più adeguata della nullità, ad accordare protezione all’intermediario che abbia subito l’abuso della controparte. Il tema indagato si colloca nell'ambito della disciplina dei contratti di impresa, di interesse comune per gli studiosi di diritto privato e di diritto commerciale