A technology network for economic development

A technology delivery system designed to provide small and medium-sized businesses with improved access to technological resources for enhancing their productivity and competitiveness has been tested under controlled conditions in the southeastern United States. The demonstration project involved federal research laboratories, state universities, National Information Service and Economic Development Administration of the U.S. Department of Commerce, and technology users in the private sector. The results of the 18 month project are reported and assessed to identify the conditions for the establishment of a national technology network for small and medium sized firms.     

SBIR first decade-results,benefits, problems from a Michigan perspective

This paper reports on the economic contributions and impact of the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program in Michigan during the first decade. The Michigan SBIR experience is examined to learn how researchers and small businesses use the SBIR Program, whether to start or strengthen businesses, how they view SBIR after a decade, and how the program has served Michigan businesses that have successfully carried out Phase I, Phase II, and Phase III SBIR projects. From the beginning of the SBIR Program, MERRA has coordinated annual SBIR conferences for Michigan companies. The MERRA staff has helped small businesses prepare suitable R&D projects and write effective SBIR proposals. Numerous SBIR awards have resulted from MERRA supportive efforts, and the MERRA small business outreach activity has kept MERRA in touch with successful firms to assist them in getting the best results from their SBIR projects and to assess progress. For this study, in-depth evaluations were made of various Michigan firms that won SBIR awards, including both mature small businesses and start-up companies to learn in what ways their SBIR experiences are parallel and in what ways they diverge. The study covers those that have used SBIR funds to diversify and add new areas of business to existing core areas. Other companies examined were created by researchers associated with universities, industry, or research organizations who utilized SBIR awards to assist in starting new businesses. Also considered were Michigan companies at different levels of development that have employed SBIR awards as seed money to perfect innovative new products for marketing.     

Legal Regime and Contractual Flexibility: A Comparison of Business's Organizational Choices in France and the United States during the Era of Industrialization

We compare the law governing business organizational forms inFrance and the United States during the nineteenth century andfind that, contrary to the conventional wisdom, the contractingenvironment in the U.S. was neither freer nor more flexiblethan in France. U.S. businesses had a more limited menu of organizationalchoices and also much less ability to adapt the basic formsto meet their needs. Moreover, American law did not evolve anymore readily in response to economic change than French law.In both nations, major changes in the rules governing organizationalforms required the passage of new statutes.     

Why are some foreign-born workers more entrepreneurial than others?

Foreign-born workers have made significant and substantial contributions to economic productivity and new firm creation in the United States. This paper identifies predictors of entrepreneurial participation among foreign-born workers, combining nationally representative survey datasets covering the U.S. resident, college-educated workforce with country-of-origin macro statistics from the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor. Immigrants who come to the U.S. after earning university degrees abroad are more likely to own businesses than other college-educated, U.S. resident workers. However, much of their higher rate of business ownership can be attributed to differences in demographic characteristics, such as years of postgraduate work experience and marital status. By contrast, science and engineering-based business ownership is most common among immigrants who came to the U.S. to pursue higher education. Furthermore, after controlling for differences in human capital, U.S.-trained adult immigrants have higher propensity to own businesses than other foreign-born workers and native U.S. citizens, overall. U.S.-trained immigrants’ higher probability of business ownership is not explained by differences in human capital or other demographic characteristics, but does seem partly attributable to differences across foreign-born workers’ countries-of-origin. Specifically, adult immigrants and foreign temporary residents from countries that offer entrepreneurs lower levels of cultural support are more likely to start and own U.S. businesses.     

产品责任:北美视角的比较法评论

美国采纳严格产品责任的主要原因是:早期的法律不能给消费者提供充分的保护;调整保证的法律不是从消费者的角度出发的;美国的社会福利很大程度上不如其他西方国家。当今美国主要对于设计和信息性缺陷适用过失责任制度,严格产品制度仅适用于制造缺陷和非制造缺陷的销售者。欧洲和其他法域的严格产品制度远比美国严格。各种结构化和程序化的事务赋予美国公民更多诉至法院的机会。     

Promoting small business through public-sector technology transfer

It is generally concluded that small businesses are the most effective institutional mechanism for the execution of technological innovation in the United States. Federal legislation provides for special considerations to be rendered to small businesses when public-sector technology is to be transferred to the private sector. Nevertheless, the activities of many federal laboratories lag in the transfer of technology to small businesses relative to large businesses. This paper examines the reasons for the current low level of interaction between federal laboratories and small businesses including the constraints typically encountered in working with small businesses. Recommendations are made to enhance the lab/small-business relationship. Finally, a sample program at Sandia National Laboratory for assistance to small businesses is described.     

The Political Sociology of Private Armies in Colombia and the United States

This paper provides a comparative sociological analysis of private armies in Colombia and the United States. Private armies in both nations have economic and political underpinnings. An ethic of economic inequality pervaded Colombian life and institutions since colonialism, creating a milieu for private armies to develop. The cocaine industry seized a historic moment in the weakness of the Colombian state, and private armies in their employ helped to manage the risks of cocaine production. Occasionally the armies were used for counterinsurgent purposes. Beyond this, a remarkable diversity of roles played by private armies was noted. In the United States, an ethic of equality provided the social milieu for legitimate private armies to appear. Militias enjoyed social status early on, but later were viewed as antidemocratic and authoritarian. Militia groups since 1865 focused attention upon internal threats first and later external ones. They did not get involved in an illegal business enterprise, and thus overall their social network was less complicated than their Colombian counterparts. Moreover, state power has limited their effectiveness and ability to gain mass appeal in the United States. In the 1990s, armies in both countries underwent change, and their situations became more complex. Diversity of roles played by the Colombian militias is highlighted during this period, while in the United States, militia ideologies were a complex mix of Constitutionalism and Christian Identity.     

The Power of EU Collective Action: The Impact of EU Data Privacy Regulation on US Business Practice

Contemporary critiques of globalisation processes often focus on the potential levelling of regulatory standards and the export by the United States of neoliberal norms of deregulation and market facilitation. This paper, in contrast, examines the extra-jurisdictional impact of EU regulatory policy on the behaviour of foreign private parties, even in powerful states such as the United States. Shaffer finds that the threat of curtailing access to the EU's large market provides the EU with leverage. By acting collectively, EU Member States can magnify the impact of European policy on US business practice and enhance EU Member State clout in the negotiation of de jure and de facto foreign standards. The site of analysis is the current dispute between the United States and the European Union over the provision of 'adequate' data privacy protection in accordance with the EU Directive on data privacy. The paper explores the many ways in which the Directive affects US practice through changing the stakes of US players – including regulators, businesses, privacy advocates, lawyers and privacy service providers – and thereby shifting the playing field in the United States on which competing interest groups clash. In examining the interaction of EU law, US practice and international trade rules, the author finds that WTO law, rather than constraining the Directive's extra-jurisdictional impact, provides the EU with a shield against US retaliatory threats, thereby facilitating a trading up of data privacy standards. The paper concludes by examining the conditions under which cross-border exchange can lead to a leveraging up of social protections: the desire for firms to expand their markets, Member States' collective bargaining power buttressed by market clout, the nature of luxury goods, the externalities of foreign under-regulation legitimising EU intervention, and the constraints of supranational trade rules.     

Federal Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance; coverage of employees of private nonprofit organizations--SSA. Proposed rules

These proposed rules implement sections 102, 321, 322 and 323 of Pub. L. 98-21 (the Social Security Amendments of 1983). Generally, these provisions: (1) Mandatorily cover for Social Security purposes employees of private nonprofit organizations; (2) Provide additional Social Security coverage for certain work performed outside the United States (U.S.); (3) Provide coverage under the Social Security program for certain foreign earned income; (4) Provide special Social Security insured status requirements for certain nonprofit organization employees covered as a result of these amendments; and (5) Provide Social Security coverage for employment and self-employment that is identified as "covered" for purposes of title II of the Social Security Act (the Act) by the provisions of a totalization agreement between the U.S. and another country.     

Business as Usual? Bail Decision Making and “Micro Politics” in an Australian Magistrates Court

Between the 1970s and 1990s, political scientists in the United States pursued a distinctive research program that employed ethnographic methods to study micro politics in criminal courts. This article considers the relevance of this concept for court researchers today through a case study about bail decision making in a lower criminal court in Australia. It describes business as usual in how decisions are made and the provision of pretrial services. It also looks at how traditionalists and reformers understood business as usual, and uses this as a critical concept to make visible micro politics in this court. The case study raises issues about organizational change in criminal courts since the 1990s, since there are fewer studies about plea bargaining and more about specialist or problem‐solving courts. It is suggested that we need a new international agenda that can address change and continuity in criminal courts.     

The transition from defense contractor to commercial company: The Huntsville, Alabama case

Studies have documented the historic failure of defense contractors in commercial markets. Yet some defense firms make this transition successfully. Based on a survey of Department of Defense contractors located in Huntsville, Alabama, this paper compares the characteristics and business strategies of firms that were successful in commercialization with those firms that were not. Characteristics of firms gaining employees during the defense funding downturns of the early 1990s included: (1) being an 8A vendor; (2) being a manufacturer or technical services provider rather than a research and design firm; and (3) spending a higher proportion of total revenue on internal research and development and marketing.     

Small business innovation: firm level evidence from Sweden

This paper examines innovation among very small firms and provides new insights into both internal and external determinants of patenting. Applying a non-linear panel data approach to about 160,000 observations on manufacturing firms in Sweden for the period 2000?C2006, the following facts emerge: (i) in contrast to larger firms, innovation in micro firms with 1?C10 employees is not sensitive to variation in internal financial resources, (ii) skilled labour is even more important for innovation among micro firms compared to other firms, (iii) affiliation to a domestically owned multinational enterprise group increases the innovation capacity of small businesses, (iv) small firms?? innovation is closely linked to participation in international trade and exports to the G7-countries, and (v) there is no statistically significant evidence that proximity to metropolitan areas, or presence in a specialized cluster, increases the innovativeness of the smallest firm.     

The Confrontation between the Big Five and Big Law: Turf Battles and Ethical Debates as Contests for Professional Credibility

This article uses interviews and comparative professional histories to explore the stakes of the battle- pre-Enron and seen in reactions to the Enron crisis - between the organized bar and the multidisciplinary practices (MDPs) associated with the Big Five accounting firms and their law firms. The paper examines modes of professional practice - family, Continental corporate law, and the Cravath model – to describe the tensions and potential solutions to maintaining professional legitimacy without appearing too close to business or economic power. The paper then seeks to explain preliminarily why the MDP debate became so strong in the United States despite the fact that the actual threat to U.S. corporate lawyers appeared relatively small. It suggests that the interjection of the Big Five potentially threatened a relatively precarious professional legitimacy with different impacts for different sectors of the bar.     

Business Response to Regulation: An Economist's Perspective

This chapter presents an economist's perspective on the interrelationship of the compliance and enforcement decisions of business and regulators in the context of regulations governing occupational health. Assuming profit-maximizing firms and harm-minimizing enforcement agencies, it is argued that a degree of preventive activity would be undertaken by businesses even in the absence of regulation. However, if employees are not fully informed about the risks of the workplace, it is likely that the profit-maximizing level of prevention will be less than socially optimal, and consequently there will be a need for regulation. An enforcement agency which attempts to minimize harm through inducing compliance with regulatory standards will be faced with similar informational difficulties to individual employees, and this suggests some scope for cooperative gains with individual firms through negotiated compliance, rather than prosecution.     

Crime victimization, alcohol consumption, and drug use in Canadian public housing

This exploratory study attempted to deal with the surprisingly small amount of scientific study of crime victimization specifically on public housing estates, particularly in Canada. In this study, 325 public housing residents in six estates in an Eastern Ontario urban center filled out survey questionnaires, while fifty-one were interviewed. Compared to the United States, there were significantly fewer single mothers and significantly more Whites. Predatory crime victimization was reported by these residents at a much higher level than for the general population in other Canadian or U.S. surveys. Still, males and youth were the residents most at risk for predatory crime victimization and substance abuse.     

Small business size standards; health care. Small Business Administration. Final rule

The Small Business Administration is adopting new size standards for 19 Health Care industries and retaining the existing $5 million size standard for the remaining 11 Health Care industries. The North American Industry Classification System classifies Health Care industries under Subsector 621, Ambulatory Health Care Services; Subsector 622, Hospitals; and Subsector 623, Nursing and Residential Care Facilities. These revisions are made to more appropriately define the size of businesses in these industries that SBA believes should be eligible for Federal small business assistance programs.     

Corruption,bribery and patriarchy in Tanzania

This is an ethnography of the political culture of Tanzania as compared to the political culture of the United States. Endemic and harmful corruption among the political leadership of Tanzania and the United States alike stems from widespread popular equation of order with patriarchy, made worse by extending the logic of patriarchy to belief that social order and welfare rest on the strength of the nation state. The Tanzanian war on corruption and ensuing shutdown of the University of Dar es Salaam during the first half of 1990 affirm the radical feminist premise that the models of legitimacy we apply in the privacy of our families are identical to and inseparable from the models of legitimacy employeed domestically and internationally by our political leaders. Corruption and other violence are more directly expressed in Tanzania and more indirectly expressed by Americans who as a consequence are more enslaved to corruption and violence than Tanzanians. The contrast in Tanzanian and U.S. political cultures and the nature of patriarchy itself leads to a set of paradoxes about achieving freedom from corruption through exercise of patriarchal state power—as that children who are the ultimate victims of corruption are at once most blamed by adults, more responsive to change than adults, and unable to change as long as they remain the subjects of patriarchal discipline. Bribery is not necessarily a part of the problem of corruption but is a part of the solution. Freedom from corruption basically requires democratic accountability. Tanzanians and Americans are linked symbiotically: neither people can free themselves from corruption without before the other. There is no logical starting point for a patriarchal approach to freeing people from corruption. On the other hand radically effective emancipation from corruption is occurring across Tanzania and the United States.     

Triggering Parent Company Liability Under United States Sanctions Regimes: The Troubling Implications of Prohibiting Approval and Facilitation

[General Electric] conducts business in more than 100 countries around the world… . An important challenge for all of us is to understand how [laws of different countries] apply to our operations. GE, the parent company, is a corporation organized in the United States. The laws of the United States frequently extend to the operations of GE and its affiliates throughout the world as well as to the business activities of GE employees wherever they live and work. Other countries may also apply their own laws outside of their borders to their own citizens and to corporations that are organized under their laws, such as GE subsidiaries or other controlled affiliates… . In some instances, there may be a conflict between the applicable laws of two or more countries. When you encounter such a conflict, it is especially important to consult company legal counsel to understand how to resolve that conflict properly. ¹     

Never mind the quality feel the width: University–industry links and government financial support for innovation in small high-technology businesses in the UK and the USA

In this paper we use a size and industry matched sample of over 1,900 UK and US businesses for the period 2004–05 in the manufacturing and business services sectors to analyse the relative “strength” of the university–industry ecosystems in which these firms operate in the two economies. Our analysis shows that in both countries universities per se play a quantitatively smaller role as a source of knowledge for business innovation than either the business sector itself or a variety of organisations intermediating between the university and business sectors. Our analysis reveals a much more diffuse university–industry ecosystem in the UK in which a higher proportion of businesses claim links external to themselves in their pursuit of knowledge for innovation and a higher proportion report directly connecting with universities. US firms are more likely to access knowledge through a combination of business and intermediary sources and are less likely to have established formal collaborative or partnership agreements in the 3 years prior to the survey. We also find, however, that a higher proportion of US firms place a very high value on the connections they have with universities and are much more likely to commit resources to support such innovation related university interactions. A similar pattern of diffuse but weaker links characterise the supply of public sector financial assistance for innovation in our sample firms. UK firms are more likely to be in receipt of assistance, but receive far less per firm in absolute terms and relative to their R&D expenditures. It appears that the UK university–industry ecosystem is characterised by a greater width than quality of interaction.     

The effects of the transfer of American educational technology on business students and a comparison with practicing managers in Lesotho,Africa, in relation to those in the United States

This research involved a comparative study of managers and advanced business students in the United States and in Lesotho, Africa. The objective was to identify the managerial beliefs of students in comparison to those of practicing managers both within and without their respective countries. This study found that Lesotho students, after having been exposed to American business school techniques, moderated their thinking processes to be more consistent with both U.S. managers and students than the practices of local managers practicing in their own country.