EFFECTIVE EUROPEAN ANTITRUST: DOES EC MERGER POLICY GENERATE DETERRENCE?

We estimate the deterrence effects of European Commission (EC) merger policy instruments over the 1990–2009 period. Our empirical results suggest phase‐1 remedies uniquely generate robust deterrence as—unlike phase‐1 withdrawals, phase‐2 remedies, and preventions—phase‐1 remedies lead to fewer merger notifications in subsequent years. Furthermore, the deterrence effects of phase‐1 remedies work best in high‐concentration industries, that is, industries where the Herfindahl Hirschman Index is above the 0.2 cut‐off level employed by the EC. Additionally, we find phase‐1 remedies do not deter clearly pro‐competitive mergers, but do deter potentially anti‐competitive mergers in high‐concentration industries. (JEL K21, K40, L40)     

Multiple Book Review: Four Perspectives on Human Natures: Genes,Cultures, and the Human Prospect. Paul R. Ehrlich. Washington,DC: Island Press, 2000, 531 pp.

Population and Environment -     

European integration and external sustainability of the European Union: an application of the thesis of Feldstein and Horioka

The Feldstein–Horioka thesis was considered one of the greatest puzzles in economics. Formulated to measure international capital mobility, it has known a process of immunization to be conformed to empirical evidence and respect econometric knowledge. We apply to EU countries a formulation of this thesis which is adequate to test external sustainability and measure international capital mobility. Applying appropriate econometric methods we can accept the hypothesis of external unsustainability for the EU before the enlargement. The enlargement allows the external sustainability of the new EU. The lesser mobility of capital in the countries of the enlargement must be considered as a positive shock on EU industry of financial services.     

Propaganda or public relations campaign? International communication on the war against Iraq

Cross-cultural survey on the war against Iraq from different cultures may help to assess whether the public relations war has succeeded or failed. Overall the public of the U.S. and the U.K. formed similar evaluations of the war; whereas South Korean opinion was lay on the opposite side of the continuum. The present study suggests that public relations campaigns administered by the U.S. government did not generate favorable opinions in countries other than the U.S.     

Social security and social networks among the urban poor in Pakistan

This paper is based on the urban case studies undertaken during a study of social safety nets and social networks and their role in poverty alleviation among low-income communities in Pakistan. A participatory assessment approach was adopted and findings reflect the perceptions of the urban poor themselves, disaggregated on the basis of age, gender and occupation. It was found that official safety net programmes fail to reach the poorest. Instead people rely on informal social networks of exchange and reciprocity during times of economic stress. However, the coping mechanisms of the poor do not always represent sustainable survival strategies. Some customary forms of obligations such as dowry, can constitute an obstacle to social development. Social networks are not always harmonious or undifferentiated, while some can be both oppressive and exploitative. It is argued, therefore, that to understand and build positively on the experience and life chances of the urban poor, the processes which undermine their ability to sustain or improve their circumstances and assure their long-term security must be addressed. It is suggested that the concept of social security provides the basis for a more flexible policy framework for responding to the particular characteristics of urban poverty than one which relies exclusively on the individual or collective coping strategies of the urban poor themselves, topped up with targeted social safety nets which often fail to hit the mark.