Las garantías bancarias en el comercio internacional*

Demand guarantees are irrevocable undertakings, independent underlying contracts, issued by a bank guarantor on the instructions of the applicant to pay the beneficiary any sum that may be demanded stated in the text of the guarantee. The International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) has aimed to highlight the use of ther most important instruments of the international trade to achieve an important juridical security and help to avoid hesitation, misunderstating and confusion. In the field of the independent guarantees, the recent major development has been the adoption of the Uniform Rules for Demand Guarantees (URDG), Brochure 758. This publication replaces URDG 458 and contains new definitions and interpretation rules to provide greater clarity and precision.     

Vermutung der Mangelhaftigkeit im Zeitpunkt der Übergabe bei Tiermängeln

Ob im Fall einer nicht unter § 925 ABGB fallenden Krankheit als Mangel eines Sportpferds die Vermutung nach § 924 zweiter Satz ABGB infolge Unvereinbarkeit mit der Art der Sache oder des Mangels iSd § 924 dritter Satz ABGB eingreift oder nicht, ist nach dem konkreten Zeitpunkt des Hervorkommens und der Art und Wurzel der jeweiligen Erkrankung zu beurteilen.     

Gradualism and uncertainty in international union formation: The European Community’s first enlargement

This paper introduces a new theoretical framework of international unions qua coalitions of countries adopting a common policy and common supranational institutions. I make use of a three-country spatial bargaining game of coalition formation, in order to examine the endogenous strategic considerations in the creation and enlargement of international unions. Why would we observe a gradualist approach in the formation of the grand coalition even if the latter is assumed to be weakly efficient? I propose asymmetric information about the benefits of integration as a mechanism that can generate gradual union formation in equilibrium. As it turns out, it may well be in the ‘core’ countries’ interest to delay the accession of a third, ‘peripheral’ country in order to (1) stack the institutional make-up of the initial union in their favor and (2) signal their high resolve to wait out the expansion of their bilateral subunion. A related case from the European experience provides an interesting illustration.     

Wirksamkeit einer vor Inkrafttreten des MRG abgeschlossenen Wertsicherungsvereinbarung; Novation

Eine im Abschlusszeitpunkt wirksame Mietzins- und Wertsicherungsvereinbarung bleibt weiter wirksam. Dieser Weitergeltung alter zinsrechtlicher Bestimmungen steht § 16 Abs 9 MRG nicht entgegen. Eine in einem Hauptmietvertrag vor dem 1. 1. 1982 und somit vor Inkrafttreten des MRG geschlossene zul?ssige Wertsicherungsvereinbarung bleibt wirksam und ist nicht auf ein überschreiten der Angemessenheitsgrenze des § 16 Abs 1 MRG hin überprüfbar.     

Biometric Elections in Poor Countries: Wasteful or a Worthwhile Investment?

Elections have emerged as a leading area for the application of biometric technology in developing countries, despite its high costs and uncertainty over its effectiveness. Why then do countries pursue such programs, often with the support of donors? The paper considers the costs and benefits of technology, where the latter involves its potential to reduce the probability of seriously disputed elections that escalate into violence. Based on the limited data available, it finds that a reduction in the probability of postelection violence by only a few percentage points could offset the cost of the technology. However, this is far from assured; we argue that biometric technology can only contribute to less disputed and less violent elections in particular settings, those where democracy is not yet well institutionalized but where political parties value the legitimacy conferred by elections that are sufficiently credible for their results to be accepted. One priority is therefore to screen potential cases carefully, before investing in costly programs that have a low probability of success. Another step toward using technology more effectively to underpin sustainable elections would be to build on voter registration drives to strengthen permanent identification assets such as civil registration and national ID programs that can serve as the basis for the voter roll.     

University–Industry Linkage Framework to Identify Opportunity Areas

Although there are many studies of the collaboration between academia and industry in developed countries explaining the phenomenon and prescribing best practices, the findings cannot be extrapolated to developing countries. This article fills the gap by studying these interactions for the case of Mexico. To study these interactions, we performed a state‐of‐the‐art matrix analysis to obtain internal, structural, and environmental factors from literature. Then, an interpretative structural framework was built as a model to identify opportunities in the collaboration process. The results are presented in a map that describes how each element influences the others and highlights opportunities for improvement. The model shows that industry triggers collaboration and presents a highly complex internal organization for the academy. This study helps decision makers in government, the academy, and industry to understand the elements and how the system works to develop strategies that promote more effective collaboration.     

Framing Contests and Policy Conflicts over Gas Pipelines

This paper compares and contrasts high‐conflict policy debates over the siting of three natural gas pipeline projects at different decision stages of the siting process. This paper draws on over 600 newspaper articles spanning 3 years, analyzed through Discourse Network Analysis. Drawing from the Advocacy Coalition Framework and Policy Conflict framework, this paper finds that actor framing of opposing policy beliefs involves more indirect than direct confrontations, with statements in the media waxing and waning over time. Opponents of the pipelines more often explicitly argue against pipelines, while also using a broad range of conceptual arguments, whereas proponents more often couch their arguments around the economic benefits of pipelines and use fewer conceptual frames overall. We also find evidence that opposing coalitions use similar framing across different decision contexts. This paper concludes with a commentary on the status and contributions of this paper to the study of policy conflicts and next steps in advancing similar research agendas.     

Technological Distribution in Uganda: Information and Communications Technology and the State in an Eastern African Nation

Information and communications technologies (ICTs) include old technologies—such as the radio and the television—as well as newer technologies—such as the Internet and wireless telephony. This study considers the process that the government of Uganda has used to adopt and implement ICT policy. This study also considers the techniques which the government of Uganda has used to distribute ICTS in public locations such as government offices, schools, and hospitals. In particular, this study attempts to consider the political motivations for distribution. The Ugandan government's attempt to distribute this technology reflects strengths in the area of distribution of artefacts, particularly to rural areas. Information and communications technologies are an important part of the Ugandan economy. In addition, ICTs strengthen the ability of citizens to communicate with each other across regional and language borders through shared access points. Methodologically, this paper uses the case study method. Semi‐structured interviews were conducted with politicians, policy makers, civil society activists, citizens, academics, medical personnel, regional government officials, and business people. This paper argues that politicians use ICTs as a component of a basket of goods and services that they can distribute to witnessing publics. This paper argues that ICT should be viewed as a type of infrastructure, and that as a public good, it can be used as a “club” good or “pork.” Although several authors discuss the potential of ICTs as democratizing, this paper documents that the Ugandan government has employed ICTs in oppressive ways, including for the surveillance of opposition leaders, and for social control.     

Keine Abweisung eines Grundbuchsgesuchs,das von Erledigung einer Vorentscheidung abhängt

§ 128 GBG bestimmt ausdrücklich die Rückwirkung des erst in h?herer Instanz bewilligten Grundbuchsgesuches auf den Tag dessen Einlangens (§ 29 Abs 1 GBG). H?ngt daher die Bewilligung eines Folgegesuches von der positiven Erledigung eines noch nicht rechtskr?ftig abgewiesenen Grundbuchsgesuches ab, ist der Eintritt der Rechtskraft der Vorentscheidung abzuwarten, statt sofort mit Abweisung vorzugehen.