Technical efficiency measurement within the manufacturing sector in Côte d'Ivoire: A stochastic frontier approach

This article analyses the productive performance in four manufacturing sectors of the Ivorian economy: textiles and garments, metal products, food processing, wood and furniture. To appraise the productive performance, econometric production frontier models are estimated, illustrating the maximum output attainable from a given quantity of inputs. The frontier and firm efficiency scores are derived from stochastic production functions estimated on cross-sectional data. The stochastic specification of the models allows for the decomposition of the error term into two components, one the normal random effect and the other to account for technical inefficiency that we explain by various exogenous variables describing the economic and institutional environment. Firm size proves to be a statistically significant determinant of the productive performance. Across the four sectors, the positive impact of being large compensates the negative effect of a formal institutional status in an environment where government regulations still prevail.     

Leniency Program: A New Tool in Competition Policy to Deter Cartel Activity in Procurement Auctions

This paper discusses the impact of a leniency program on incentives within cartels. The objective of this program is to encourage a cartel member to confess and implicate his co-conspirators with hard evidence about their collusive agreement. We develop a simple model of cartel behavior under a first-price sealed-bid procurement auction and we show how an effective leniency program can prevent the internal coordination of cartel members.     

In the name of charity: Institutional support for and resistance to redefining the meaning of charity in Canada

This article examines how state institutions shape the meaning of charity in Canada. It concludes that the courts have made limited changes to the meaning of charity and that the Department of Finance has resisted redefining charity. In contrast, the Canada Revenue Agency's Charities Directorate has worked to update the meaning of charity, but it does not have the power to amend the tax laws so its changes have been primarily administrative. While these administrative changes may not overcome the central public policy issue related to a narrow interpretation of the meaning of charity, they could shape future definitions depending on the voluntary sector's ability to mobilize around this issue and the receptiveness of the federal government.     

Some Norwegian politicians' use of cost-benefit analysis

Members of the Norwegian Parliament were interviewed about their use of cost-benefit analysis in the political treatment of a road investment plan. Most respondents found the cost-benefit ratio useful as a screening device to pick projects requiring closer political attention, but few seemed to actually use it to rank projects. Attitudes towards cost-benefit analysis varied along the left-right political axis, with politicians to the left being the most sceptical. These findings are consistent with a hypothesis that politicians rationally maximize subjective, but different, perceptions of social welfare.     

The civil liability of European nuclear operators: which coverage for the new 2004 Protocols? Evidence from France

In Western Europe, the nuclear liability is governed by two international conventions, drafted by the Nuclear Energy Agency of the OECD: the Paris (1960) and Brussels (1963) Conventions. These conventions traditionally limited the liability of the nuclear power plant operators to relatively low amounts. In France, the liability of the (state owned) operator of €91 million is covered by insurance (for €31 million) and reserves (for €60 million). A recent modification to the conventions occurred in 2004 and increased the liability limit to €700 million. In this paper we aim to evaluate the costs for covering the increased liability for the nuclear risk after the introduction of the 2004 amendments. In order to do so, we calculate the actuarial insurance premium for the nuclear risk and find that the current premium charge is very large. The paper tries to explain the high price of nuclear liability insurance. Also the costs of the own reserves for the coverage of potential nuclear accidents are examined. We then aim to evaluate the different options (mostly insurance and reserves) and indicate the optimal combination of both instruments to cover the future operators’ liability limit, introduced by the latest 2004 amending Protocols.

Seed wars and farmers’ rights: comparative perspectives from Brazil and India

Drawing on interviews with Indian and Brazilian farmers’ rights activists, lawyers, agronomists and plant breeders, this article aims at better understanding how farmers’ rights are protected on paper and implemented on the ground in these two countries. Brazil and India offer important case studies because they are biologically megadiverse countries, and because small farmers represent an important segment of the rural economy. In this article, I show that India has adopted an ownership approach to farmers’ rights, while Brazil leans towards a stewardship approach. Based on an examination of the progress made in enforcing these rights, I further argue that the stewardship model adopted by Brazil is more conducive to the realization of farmers’ rights, and I explore why this is the case. Finally, I show how farmers’ rights provisions in the Brazilian and Indian legislations represent fragile gains that could be curtailed by several bills currently under discussion in the field of seed and plant variety protection.     

Inclusive Development and the Asymmetric State: Big Projects and Local Communities in the Brazilian Amazon

In 2003, the Workers’ Party took federal office in Brazil on an agenda of social inclusion and popular participation. This paper explores attempts to implement that agenda in big infrastructure projects in the Amazon: the BR-163 road and the Belo Monte dam. We argue that overlapping inequalities (between social groups, within the bureaucracy and between territorial centre and periphery) result in uneven state capacities for implementing projects in the Amazon. This framework helps explain why the government has moved much faster in building infrastructure than in implementing participatory social and environmental programmes that would benefit affected local communities.     

Shells and Bones: A Forensic Medicine Study of the Association of Terrestrial Snail Allopeas micra with Buried Human Remains in Brazil

Little is known regarding the scavenger fauna associated with buried human corpses, particularly in clandestine burials. We report the presence of 20 shells of the terrestrial snail Allopeas micra, within hollow bones of human remains buried for 5 years, during the process of collecting DNA material. The fact that a large number of shells of A. micra had been found in the corpse and in the crime scene supports the assumption that there was no attempt to remove the corpse from the area where the crime occurred. Despite this, our observations cannot be used to estimate the postmortem interval because there is no precise knowledge about the development of this species. This is the first record of a terrestrial snail associated with a human corpse and its role in this forensic medicine case.