EU update

This is the first edition of the Bristows column on developments in EU law relating to IP, IT and telecommunications. This news article summarises recent developments that are considered important for practitioners, students and academics in a wide range of information technology, e-commerce, telecommunications and intellectual property areas. It cannot be exhaustive but intends to address the important points. This is a hard copy reference guide, but links to outside websites are included where possible. No responsibility is assumed for the accuracy of information contained in these links.     

The impact of technology transfer contract on a firm’s market value in Korea

Technology transfer has been evaluated as a driving force of economic growth as well as one way to create new innovation. In order to make a successful technology transfer, both additional emission efforts by the supplier and absorption efforts by the recipient are required, because it is not as simple as the acquisition of a capital good. This study seeks to better understand the nature of successful technology transfer in Korea. We empirically analyzed the impact of the supplier’s characteristics (cultural distance, relationship type, form of technology transfer, and licensing type) and the recipient’s characteristics (absorptive capacity) on the market value of firms in Korea using the event study methodology. We found that technology transfer announcements significantly increase the market value of firms in Korea, and market responses to the recipient firms are significantly greater than those to the supplier firms. Our results showed that the effect of alliances with complementors (e.g., university, government laboratory) is greater than that of alliances with industry players, and the effect of an exclusive license as a method of technology transfer is greater than that of a non-exclusive license. However, we were not able to determine whether the impact of high levels of absorptive capacity is significantly different from that of low levels of absorptive capacity. Our study will not only complement and extend research on technology transfer, but also provide firms with various methods to decrease the risks related to technology transfer.     

Outcome measurement in forensic mental health research: an evaluation

Abstract

Measuring change resulting from healthcare interventions is critical to evaluating their usefulness. The choice of outcome measure is an important part of such evaluations and is driven by assumptions about what is likely to change and how best to capture this. Despite its importance, forensic mental health has paid little attention to determining which are the best measures of outcome. This study used a panel of relevant professionals to (i) assess the relative importance of different areas of potential outcome measurement and (ii) evaluate specific instruments used currently as outcome measures in forensic mental health research. Although a wide range of potential outcomes were endorsed as appropriate, few corresponding instruments have been used consistently. Only three psychiatric instruments deemed by our panel as feasible, relevant and psychometrically adequate have been used in five or more studies (the Beck Depression Inventory; the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale, and the Symptom Checklist-90–Revised). Significant measurement gaps were noted in areas such as social and emotional functioning. Although instruments exist that could capture most areas, none were sufficiently developed for routine use as outcomes. Further research to develop robust, sensitive and diverse outcome measures is needed. This is an essential precursor to extending the evidence base for forensic mental health interventions.     

Productivity growth of East Asia economies' manufacturing: A decomposition analysis

Applying a stochastic production frontier to sector-level data within manufacturing, this paper examines total factor productivity (TFP) growth for seven East Asian economies during 1963–98, using both single country and cross-country regressions. The analysis focuses on the trend in technological progress (TP) and technical efficiency change (TEC), and the role of productivity change in economic growth. The empirical results reveal that although input factor accumulation is still the main source for East Asian economies' growth, TFP growth is accounting for an increasing and important proportion of output growth, among which the improved TEC plays a crucial role in productivity growth.     

‘Condemned forever to becoming and never to being’? The Weise Commission and German Military Isomorphism

Despite several post-Cold War reforms which have promised far-reaching change, the Bundeswehr faces a set of deficits in force structures, capabilities, doctrines and military adaptation, which leave it in danger of slipping permanently behind its European partners. The study examines the extent to which reforms proposed by the Commission on Structural Reform of the Bundeswehr will remedy these deficiencies. It finds that the proposals of the Commission include several important measures which will accelerate German convergence with the reforms of its European partners. However, the Commission fails to address several fundamental problems which impair the Bundeswehr's capacity to adapt to ongoing operations. The article critically engages with the existing theoretical literature on German defence policy and highlights the utility of neoclassical realism in explaining the process and outcome of German defence reform. The study also points to the urgent requirement for further comparative scholarship on post-Cold War European military adaptation and civil–military relations in defence planning.     

Parliaments in Disguise? How German Councillors perceive Local Councils

Dominant narratives of neighbourhood working in the United Kingdom accentuate the diversity and ‘messiness’ of practices across local authorities. This paper questions such narratives. Drawing upon a study of 15 local authorities, we first argue that neighbourhood working is increasingly oriented towards neighbourhood management, privileging the ‘joining up’ of mainstream service delivery over the enhanced community engagement and political accountability more associated with the practices of neighbourhood governance. Deploying Lowndes and Sullivan's four rationales of neighbourhood working (2008), in combination with Mintzberg's metaphor of organisation as ‘structure in fives’ (1983), we suggest that the practices of neighbourhood working are currently best understood in terms of Mintzberg's decentralised divisional authority as a form of constrained decentralisation in which semi-autonomous divisions are brought together under a central administration and given limited control over service delivery in order to address the social and economic rationales for neighbourhood working. We then draw upon recent neo-liberal critiques of local governance to offer a critical evaluation of both the appeal for local officers and politicians of neighbourhood management and the potential tensions and contradictions of such a move for future policy and practice. We conclude that neighbourhood management as a neo-liberal ‘roll-out’ strategy may be self-defeating, surfacing the incapacity of local authorities to respond to local community expectations and grievances, whilst exposing the organisational constraints of partnership working, managerialism and outsourcing.     

Framing Gov2.0: A Q-Methodological Study of Practitioners’ and Local Politicians’ Opinions

Abstract

Proponents of Gov2.0 claim that it offers the potential to improve the relationship between the citizen and state. Whether this potential can be realised depends in part on how new web-based technologies are implemented. Local government officials and politicians are important actors in this process, yet we know little about how they view Gov2.0. This paper applies Q-methodology to a sample of English local government actors to generate new data and fill this gap in our knowledge. Four frames of reference within this population are revealed: Sunlight on Government, Cautious Crowdsourcers, Gov1.0 and Platform Providers. The paper concludes that while there is general agreement that technology will be a driver of change, and that local government should adapt, there is no clear agreement as to the nature of reform.     

In search of equality: Relations between China's ethnic minorities and the majority Han

Abstract

The struggle to bring about equality between a nation's ethnic minorities and the ethnic majority seems universal. The one-time boast of a “melting pot” society has been replaced by a new ideal—dubbed the “salad bowl” by historian Carl Degler—a society in which each diverse element intermingles with the others, but does not lose its own special identity. This reflects a growing realization that—at least for the short term—homogeneity and cultural assimilation (perhaps inevitably absorption by the majority) may not be the most desirable goal for a progressive society. To that end the encouragement of local dialects, languages, dress, food, cultural activities, religious practices and other social customs becomes an expedient policy.