The impact of plurilateral trade agreements on developing countries – to participate or not to participate?

In the wake of the impasse in the Doha Development Round of multilateral trade talks, sector-specific plurilateral trade agreements (PTAs) have been gaining traction. However, PTAs mostly appeal to developed countries, with the uptake among developing countries (including least-developed countries) being very limited. This article investigates the factors contributing to such a phenomenon, whether there is indeed merit in developing countries playing a more active role in PTAs and how they might be encouraged to do so. Both qualitative and quantitative analyses were conducted with specific attention being given to the effects, on a selection of developing countries, of participation in four PTAs: the Trade in Services Agreement, the Government Procurement Agreement, the Environmental Goods Agreement and the Information Technology Agreement II. Among the findings was that although, according to the qualitative analysis, policymakers are generally disinterested in the four PTAs because they are not aligned to the countries’ economic interests or they threaten policy space, the quantitative analysis revealed that gains could often be made from more active participation in these agreements. This clearly points to a research gap and highlights the need for more in-depth analysis of the potential of PTAs in the developing world.     

Financial crisis, effective policy rules and bounded rationality in a New Keynesian framework

This paper extends a standard open-economy New Keynesian model to include a third-generation “balance sheet effect” which is made operational through an endogenous risk premium impacting on investment. Using rational expectations and adaptive learning solutions, the efficiency of alternative monetary policy rules is examined during a period of financial crisis. We find that the Taylor rule is the welfare superior policy, questioning the idea of an “information encompassing” inflation-forecast based rule. Under adaptive learning we find additional policy traction and less instrument variability in rules augmented with the exchange rate. All rules, however, advocate a sharp initial interest rate response to the crisis.     

The Relationship between Meteorological Conditions and Homicide,Suicide, Rage,and Psychiatric Hospitalization

This study focuses on the relationship between the incidence of homicide, rage, suicide, and psychiatric hospitalization as violent behaviors with temperature, humidity, and air pressure as specific meteorological variables in the city of Mashhad, in the northeast of Iran. The data were obtained from Iran Meteorological Organization, official registry of Legal Medicine Organization and the local psychiatric hospital, March 2009 to Feb 2010 daily and were analyzed with SPSS‐14 using Pearson correlation coefficient, ANOVA, and post hoc analysis tests. The rates of rage and psychiatric admission had a significant relationship with the daily mean air temperature, minimum relative humidity, maximum relative humidity, minimum daily pressure, and maximum daily air pressure (p < 0.0001). There was no significant correlation between homicide and suicide rates with any meteorological variables (p > 0.05). We concluded that, the possibility of nonfatal violence and psychiatric hospitalization would increase in hot and arid weather with low air pressure.     

Fat embolism syndrome associated with atraumatic compartment syndrome of the bilateral upper extremities: An unreported etiology

Fat embolism syndrome (FES) is a potentially life-threatening condition that develops when fat embolism leads to clinical symptoms and multisystem dysfunction. The classic triad of respiratory distress, neurologic symptoms, and petechial rash are non-specific, and the lack of specific laboratory tests makes the diagnosis of FES difficult. Although FES is most common after long bone fractures, multiple conditions some of which are atraumatic have been associated with the development of FES. We report a case of FES that occurred in the setting of a non-traumatic compartment syndrome of the upper extremities. The pathologic and clinical findings, pathophysiology, diagnostic challenges, and pathologic methods to properly diagnose FES are discussed with a review of the relevant literature. This case highlights the importance of the autopsy in making a diagnosis of FES in cases where death could otherwise be incorrectly attributed to multi-organ system failure, shock, or sepsis.     

Community not the Councillors: A Study of Commitment of Australian Senior Council Officers Working under a Politicised Employment Relationship

Council officers as public managers are expected to work for the community. Yet, it has been argued that council officers working under a politicised employment relationship are likely to be more committed to the elected councillors than to the community. This proposition has been examined through a survey of senior council officers across Australia and the results are presented in this article. This study develops an analytical approach which combines for the first time the multi-focus and the multiple bases of managerial commitment approaches, applies this to the case of Australian local government managers and finds that although most senior council officers perceive that their employment is politicised they remain committed to the community. Based upon these findings, it is argued that a conceptual framework utilising a combined multi-focus and multiple bases approach is more appropriate to the study of commitment of local government managers and to managers in the public sector in general than the use of either approach alone.     

Sudden death due to congenital pericardial defect: an autopsy case

Pericardial defects are rare in childhood and outcome is usually benign. Patients may be asymptomatic, but chest pain, emboli, arrhythmia, and sudden death have been described in the literature. We report the case of a 12-year-old boy who suddenly died after mild exercise. A left-sided pericardial defect with a diameter of 8 cm was detected on medico-legal autopsy.     

Resolving Incompatibilities of Bilateral Investment Treaties of the EU Member States with the EC Treaty: Individual and Collective Options

Bilateral Investment Treaties (BITs) concluded by the EU Member States contain substantially similar clauses, including free movement of capital and investor‐to‐state dispute resolution. Article 307 EC provides for the primacy of pre‐accession treaties over the EC Treaty and simultaneously requires the Member States to eliminate their mutual incompatibilities. The European Court of Justice has declared that free movement of capital clauses of Austrian and Swedish pre‐accession extra‐EU BITs are incompatible with the EC Treaty as they will impede any restrictions on the movement of capital imposed as future Community legislation. A similar ‘free movement of capital’ clause is present in all extra‐EU BITs of the Member States, whether pre‐ or post‐accession. Article 307, however, does not apply to the post‐accession treaties which are equally capable of contriving the same consequences of impeding the application of the EC Treaty. In addition, the application of intra‐EU BITs provides investors from BIT party states access to the investor‐to‐state dispute resolution which is not available to investors from the Member States who do not have BITs with those Member States. This is discrimination and may distort the principle of equal treatment within the EU. Furthermore, the newly acceding EU States are facing extensive arbitral claims for carrying out the BIT‐EU conflicting obligations within their respective territories.