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41. French, UK, and US Policies to Support Peacekeeping in Africa: Current Status and Future Prospects

Author:
Eric G. Berman
Publication Date:
02-2002
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Norwegian Institute of International Affairs
Abstract:
In May 1997, France, the United Kingdom, and the United States announced their joint “P-3 Initiative”, to harmonize their peacekeeping capacity-building programs in Africa and foster an open dialogue between donors and recipients. The capacity-building programs of France, the UK and the US have since undergone numerous transformations. The centerpiece of French policy, the Renforcement des capacités Africaines de maintien de la paix (RECAMP) has had comparatively few changes to its basic structure, but has been scaled down. The UK African Peacekeeping Training Support Programme has given way to a much larger and more ambitious initiative. The US African Crisis Response Initiative (ACRI) has evolved significantly and will undergo a more fundamental change in 2002, including shedding its name. Moreover, Washington initiated a new capacity-building policy in 2001, which dwarfed ACRI in terms of resources and introduced the provision of lethal equipment.
Topic:
Peace Studies
Political Geography:
Africa, United States, United Kingdom, Europe, and France

42. Lovely but dangerous: The impact of patent citations on patent duration

Author:
Per Botolf Maurseth
Publication Date:
03-2001
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Norwegian Institute of International Affairs
Abstract:
What is the impact of patent citations on patent renewal behaviour? Patent citations are commonly used as an indicator of technology spillovers. For cited patents therefore, patent citations have a potentially ambiguous impact. On the one hand, patent citations may indicate a scientific breakthrough, a high value of the cited patent and therefore a long survival period. On the other hand, patent citations may indicate competing innovations that render the cited patent obsolete. By discriminating patents by technology field, it is demonstrated that patents that receive citations across technology fields survive longer than other patents. Patents that receive citations within the same technology field lapse earlier.
Topic:
Development, International Trade and Finance, and Science and Technology
Political Geography:
Europe

43. Meet Me Halfway but don't Rush—Absorptive capacity and strategic R investment revisited

Author:
Leo A. Grünfeld
Publication Date:
12-2001
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Norwegian Institute of International Affairs
Abstract:
In this paper, we analyse how R investment decisions are affected by R spillovers between firms, taking into consideration that more R investment improves the ability to learn from competing firms - the so-called absorptive capacity effect of R The model in this paper is an extension of d'Aspremont and Jacquemin (1988), where they show that exogenous R spillovers reduce the incentive to invest in R when firms compete in a Cournot duopoly. Our model treats R spillovers as endogenous, being a function of absorptive capacity effects. Contrary to earlier studies, we show that absorptive capacity effects do not necessarily drive up the incentive to invest in R This only happens when the market size is small or the absorptive capacity effect is weak. Otherwise firms will actually chose to cut down on R Furthermore, absorptive capacity effects also increase the critical rate of spillovers that determines whether participating in research joint ventures leads to lower or higher R investment. Finally, we show that strong learning effects of own R are not necessarily goodfor welfare. Moreover, if the market size is large, welfare will be at its highest when the learning effect is small.
Topic:
Economics, Industrial Policy, and International Trade and Finance
Political Geography:
Europe

44. Political Priorities and Economic Interests in Russian-Latvian Relations

Author:
Andris Spruds
Publication Date:
12-2001
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Norwegian Institute of International Affairs
Abstract:
The paper focuses on interaction of political and economic aspects in Russian-Latvian relations. During the most of the 1990´s, the relationship was dominated by the «conflict manifestation, » which could be witnessed during the protracted Russian troop withdrawal and mutually irreconcilable positioning over NATO expansion and status of Russian-speaking population. However, in the context of EU enlargement and «economisation» of Russian foreign policy, economic factors may play an increasingly important role in Russian-Latvian relations. It is possible to discover a complex web of links and economic interdependence between economic actors in both Russia and Latvia. This especially refers to transit as Latvian ports remain among the major routes of Russian exports, primarily oil, to Western Europe. Yet, certain interests of particular economic groups in Russia as well as economic and political priorities of Russian government generally, in the region and domestically will have influence, not necessarily favourable, on further development of this economic interdependence.
Topic:
NATO and Politics
Political Geography:
Russia, Europe, Asia, and Latvia

45. The Europeanisation of Norway's Security Identity

Author:
Pernille Rieker
Publication Date:
12-2001
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Norwegian Institute of International Affairs
Abstract:
In this working paper Pernille Rieker looks into the relationship between the European integration process and changes in Norway's national security identity. Has the dominant national discourse on security changed since the early 1990s? If so, how are these changes related to the recent acceleration of the European integration process? And to what extent are such European influences on national security identities related to formal membership in the EU? While there is reason to believe that a Europeanisation of national security policies has taken place, the question is whether we may speak of a pro-found change in identity, or merely an instrumental adaptation to external changes. Several researchers have studied the influence of this participation on national institutions and policies; less attention, however, has been given to the Europeanisation of Norway's security identity. This paper is an attempt to fill this gap.
Topic:
National Security and Nationalism
Political Geography:
Europe and Norway

46. Firms' export decisions—fixed trade costs and the size of the export market

Author:
Hege Medin
Publication Date:
10-2001
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Norwegian Institute of International Affairs
Abstract:
This article presents two models of international trade under monopolistic competition. In increasing returns sectors firms face fixed, in addition to variable, trade costs, therefore both exporters and non-exporters may coexist. While nonexporters benefit from access to large domestic markets, exporters benefit from access to large foreign markets. Consequently, a small country has a higher share of exporting firms than a large one. In contrast to standard models, increasing returns sectors turn out more open in small countries than in large ones, and small countries may be net exporters of such commodities, despite the disadvantage of a smaller home market.
Topic:
Economics and International Trade and Finance
Political Geography:
Europe

47. Should one bargain over two issues simultaneously or separately?

Author:
Bård Harstad
Publication Date:
05-2001
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Norwegian Institute of International Affairs
Abstract:
International negotiations on trade (e.g. GATT and TRIPS) have typically been of the package-form, and different issues have therefore been linked to each other. Trade issues have not been linked to e.g. environmental agreements in negotiations, however. This paper studies the outcome of linked bargaining, where two issues are simultaneously negotiated over by two countries. We notice that there always exist gains from linkages in bargaining, and that such linking will always occur in equilibrium if there is a pre-stage where the countries are bargaining over the agenda. The outcome under linked bargaining is compared with the outcome under separate negotiations, and the circumstances where a country will gain or lose from linking are characterized. The results help us to understand different countries' preferences for linkages in bargaining.
Topic:
International Relations, Environment, and International Trade and Finance
Political Geography:
Europe

48. Recent Advances in Growth Theory. A Comparison of Neoclassical and Evolutionary Perspectives

Author:
Per Botolf Maurseth
Publication Date:
05-2001
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Norwegian Institute of International Affairs
Abstract:
Research on economic growth has experienced remarkable progress the last decade. The neoclassical perspective has benefited from development of new mathematical methods and new approaches to market structure, economics of scale and spillover effects. At the same time evolutionary theories on economic development have appeared, partly competing but also complementary to neoclassical theorising. In this paper, the development of the two perspectives on economic growth is reviewed and they are compared with each other. Despite evident differences there seems to be convergence between the two traditions. The two perspectives therefore do not belong to different paradigms in the Kuhnian sense and they can hardly be categorised as two isolated research programmes in the sense of Imre Lakatos. Evolutionary and neoclassical growth economics draw inspiration from similar sources, they are overlapping and to some extent complementary. The two traditions also interact with each other.
Topic:
Development, Economics, and International Trade and Finance
Political Geography:
Europe