Sharing American and European economic experiences in technology conversion

After 50 years, the cold war is finally over. It was the longest and most costly war in modern history. The soldiers can return home. The world can go back to being normal. But what, after all this time, is “normal”? In what kind of world are the soldiers returning home? It is a world in economic chaos; a world in recession; a world redefining itself and everything in it. It is a world like none ever seen before in history. While some argue that the American economy converted successfully before and after WWI, WWII, the Korean War, and even the Vietnam War, the depth and extent of those earlier conversions were of much smaller magnitude as compared to the end of the cold war.     

The policy origins of the European economic constitution

This article traces the origins of the European economic constitution in the debate on Article 30 of the EC Treaty (general rule on the free movement of goods) between 1966 and 1969, which resulted in Directive 70/50. In this, the first archive‐based analysis of the policy origins of the Court's Dassonville (1974) decision, the article demonstrates that there was a strong continuity in the investment by a number of key actors in focusing on Article 30 to create the single market from the mid‐1960s. These civil servants and lawyers provided the backbone for the Commission's transformation of the Cassis de Dijon judgment (1979) into a powerful tool, driving back the need for legislative harmonisation and making it a cornerstone of the Single European Act of 1986. The article therefore analyses one of the key moments in the transformation of European law.     

Selected legal aspects concerning the regulation of trusts and private foundations in the Russian federation

The authors are the first contributors from the Russian Federationand introduce the reader to Russian legal concepts which incorporatethe idea of the Anglo-Saxon trust as well as the private foundationand discuss how foreign trusts and foundations are perceivedby the Russian legislator.     

Skeletal estimation and identification in American and East European populations

Forensic science is a fundamental transitional justice issue as it is imperative for providing physical evidence of crimes committed and a framework for interpreting evidence and prosecuting violations to International Humanitarian Law (IHL). The evaluation of evidence presented in IHL trials and the outcomes various rulings by such courts have in regard to the accuracy or validity of methods applied in future investigations is necessary to ensure scientific quality. Accounting for biological and statistical variation in the methods applied across populations and the ways in which such evidence is used in varying judicial systems is important because of the increasing amount of international forensic casework being done globally. Population variation or the perceived effect of such variation on the accuracy and reliability of methods is important as it may alter trial outcomes, and debates about the scientific basis for human variation are now making their way into international courtrooms. Anthropological data on population size (i.e., the minimum number of individuals in a grave), demographic structure (i.e., the age and sex distribution of victims), individual methods applied for identification, and general methods of excavation and trauma analysis have provided key evidence in cases of IHL. More generally, the question of population variation and the applicability of demographic methods for estimating individual and population variables is important for American and International casework in the face of regional population variation, immigrant populations, ethnic diversity, and secular changes. The reliability of various skeletal aging methods has been questioned in trials prosecuted by the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in The Prosecutor of the Tribunal against Radislav Krstic (Case No. IT-98-33, Trial Judgment) and again in the currently ongoing trial of The Prosecutor of the Tribunal against Zdravko Tolimir, Radivolje Miletic, Milan Gvero, Vinko Pandurevic, Ljubisa Beara, Vujadin Popovic, Drago Nikolic, Milorad Trbic, Ljubomir Borovcanin (IT-05-88-PT, Second Amended Indictment). Following the trial of General Krstic, a collaborative research project was developed between the Forensic Anthropology Center at The University of Tennessee (UT) and the United Nations, International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, Office of the Prosecutor (ICTY). The purpose of that collaboration was to investigate methods used for the demographic analysis of forensic evidence and where appropriate to recalibrate methods for individual estimation of age, sex, and stature for specific use in the regions of the former Yugoslavia. The question of "local standards" and challenges to the reliability of current anthropological methods for biological profiling in international trials of IHL, as well as the performance of such methods to meet the evidentiary standards used by international tribunals is investigated. Anthropological methods for estimating demographic parameters are reviewed. An overview of the ICTY-UT collaboration for research aimed at addressing specific legal issues is discussed and sample reliability for Balkan aging research is tested. The methods currently used throughout the Balkans are discussed and estimated demographic parameters obtained through medico-legal death investigations are compared with identified cases. Based on this investigation, recommendations for improving international protocols for evidence collection, presentation, and research are outlined.     

European Union economic growth and the age structure of the population

We test the robustness of correlations between age structure and economic growth in EU15 countries by replicating a previous OECD study. A hump-shaped relation with the age structure is confirmed where increases in the dependent age group shares are associated with decreasing GDP growth rates. In addition we confirm that the peak of the hump is in the upper part of the working age population. Models estimated on data up to 1990 agree quite well when data for 15 more years are added. Sensitivity tests, instrumented regressions and addition of control variables do not change this conclusion. Thus, the age profile of correlations between age and economic growth is robust over time. This motivates a prospective analysis of future effects ageing will have on EU growth. The basic conclusion from this exercise is that ageing will be accompanied by stagnation in GDP growth, but at rather different time horizons.

Characteristics and prospects for East Asian economic integration: a Korean perspective

In terms of economic regionalism, East Asia lags far behind other major regions. It was only recently that institutionalization of regional economic integration was started among East Asia countries. However, functional economic integration has continuously proceeded among East Asian economies even without a region-wide RTA. This paper analyzes the trends of functional economic integration both in terms of trade and foreign direct investment (FDI) among East Asian economies, and reviews recent developments of economic regionalism in East Asia. It also addresses the prospects for a region-wide FTA in East Asia and draws some policy implications for East Asian countries at this juncture of economic regionalism in East Asia.

A comparative analysis of trade and economic integration in East Asia and Latin America

This paper provides an analysis of the two channels of regional integration: integration via markets and integration via agreements. Given that East Asia and Latin America are two fertile regions where both forms of integrations have taken place, we examine the experiences of these two areas to illustrate our conclusions. There are three related results. First, East Asia has been integrating via the markets long before formal agreements have been in vogue in the region. Latin America, on the other hand, has primarily been using formal regional trade treaties as the main channel of integration. Second, despite the relative lack of formal regional trade treaties until recently, East Asia is more integrated among itself than Latin America. Third, from a purely economic and trade standpoint, the proper sequence of integrations seems to be first integrating via the markets and subsequently via formal regional trade agreements. One interpretation of the relative success of the East Asian approach is that regional trade agreements often serve multiple constituents. Integrating via markets first can be helpful because this can give a stronger political bargaining power to the outward-looking economic-oriented forces within the country.     

How to build European private law: an economic analysis of the lawmaking and harmonization dimensions in European private law

In the process of building a European Private Law, the lawmaking and harmonization dimensions??the modes of harmonization and even more, the scope and reach of the harmonizing effect of the European rules- appear as crucial issues. We show how the harmonization strategy is as important a question as whether we should have European Private Law at all. We present an economic discussion of the different modes of harmonizing Private Law in the abstract, and how they are likely to differently affect outcomes. We also present in informal terms a simple economic model of how to build optimal harmonized rules and standards in a setting of pre-existing separate and diverse national ones, and we systematically explore how the different harmonization regimes (maximum harmonization, minimum harmonization, and pure co-existence of harmonized and national standards) affect the outcomes of the harmonization process.     

Topics in macro-modelling of East European countries in the period of transition

Central and European former Centrally Planned Economies (CPEs) entered a period of transition towards market economies. The evolution is marked by a transition from shortage- to demand-determined economies, associated with the abandonment of price control and the introduction of tight wage control. Stabilization programmes (in Poland from 1990), implementing tough deflationary fiscal and monetary policies, brought about the suppression of hyperinflation. The high adjustment costs — deep recession, high rates of unemployment — are characteristics of the early '90s. The deregulation of the public sector and the building of the private one commenced, and will be a long-lasting process. To meet the changes in economic regimes and mechanisms, the existing models had to be adequately respecified and new models constructed. The large W-5 macromodel for Poland, which covers the final and intermediate demands, had to be extended to introduce the market adjustment mechanisms and, more broadly, the financial flows. To meet the needs of short-term financial policies, new quarterly models had to be built, as, for instance, the WK macromodel for the Polish economy. The paper discusses the major problems of the models' specification under the data constraints.