El presente escrito explica cómo ha incidido la implementación y certificación de la norma ISO 9000:2000 en algunos países y en Colombia. Este cuestionamiento se centra dentro de la disciplina de la producción y de la calidad. Se mencionan de forma general algunas experiencias particulares...

This article discusses China’s incremental approach to SOE reform, the difficulties of continuing this approach as the need to make efficiency gains across all sectors of the economy becomes more acute, and future reform options and the challenges in carrying them out.

The number of patents has increased dramatically in the past three decades, as has the number of patent-related lawsuits, particularly in the field of software. Industry and academic experts have expressed concern that many of the patents being issued are of low quality. Writing in the Journal...

As financial markets have increasingly globalised, the regulatory framework is still nationally fragmented. One core regulatory element is the provision of assurance services by accounting firms. The Big 4 - the leading international providers of audit services Ð are not as international as are...

Der vorliegende Beitrag fragt nach der Rolle buergerlicher Werte in der Theorie und Praxis der Sozialen Marktwirtschaft. Dabei wird dargestellt, inwiefern die Ideen der Vordenker des Ordoliberalismus und der Sozialen Marktwirtschaft im „buergerlichen Wertekanon“ als normativem Hintergrund...

We review the burgeoning literature on two-sided markets focusing on the different definitions that have been proposed. In particular, we show how the well-known definition given by Evans is a particular case of the more general definition proposed by Rochet and Tirole. We then identify the...

This paper assesses the potential of a combined “USO in communications”, i.e. a USO that simultaneously defines the physical and digital requirements for the conveyance of communication irrespective of the specific sector.

Industrial policy, defined as state activity aimed at achieving structural changes in national industry, doesn’t get a unanimous support from economists. The primary reason for criticism lays in insufficient efficiency of interventions. This inefficiency is mainly caused by lobbying and, thus,...

From 1864 to 1972, the real price of oil fell by, on average, over one percent per year. This trend dramatically broke when prices for crude increased by over 650 percent from 1972 to 1980. Policy makers adopted several policies designed to keep oil prices in check and reduce consumption....

The report is part of an initiative to map the transport data currently available within selected developing countries, looking to evaluate availability and quality of transport-related data in general, and particularly for information gaps affecting estimation of Greenhouse Gas emissions. The...