This paper is a further study of rural China based on the study of the first national agricultural census in 1996 (Fanfani and Brasili, 2003). The main emphasis is regionalization of rural China according to the second national agricultural census in 2006, utilizing the same or at least similar...

Paraphrasing the 1996 World Food Summit definition, “food insecurity” exists when “not” all people, “not” at all times, have physical and economic access to sufficient safe and nutritious food. In this perspective, our study examines the relation between spatial inequality and...

This paper is a further study of rural China based on the study of the first national agricultural census in 1996 (Fanfani and Brasili, 2003). The main emphasis is regionalization of rural China according to the second national agricultural census in 2006, utilizing the same or at least similar...

The factors that affect export competitiveness are complex. From a firm's perspective, an appropriate trading environment in which the firm can conduct its business plays an important role in the creation of competitiveness. Thus, a trade-enabling environment, based on (a) adequate trade...

This paper provides a short overview on the trade facilitation provisions in the RTAs in the Asia-Pacific region with a view to identifying the characteristics of trade facilitation provisions in existing RTAs and finding out good practices in this area. With the evolution of the definition of...

In explaining economic phenomena, economic analysis concentrates on selected influences and fixes the host of other factors under a ceteris paribus clause. This view, which goes back to Alfred Marshall (1842-1924), is developed in the first part of the book. Aggregation is viewed as a particular...

Life annuities provide a guaranteed income for the remainder of the recipient’s lifetime, and therefore, annuitization presents an important option when choosing an adequate investment strategy for the retirement ages. While there are numerous research articles studying annuities from a...

Even 50 years after Modigliani/Miller’s irrelevance theorem, the basic question of how firms choose their capital structure remains unclear. This survey paper aims at summarizing and discussing corresponding recent developments in empirical capital structure research, which, in our view, are...

There has been a wide-spread misconception based on the imprecise wording of Art. 52 of the European Patent Convention (EPC) that the protection of business methods by patents is prohibited in Europe. This paper investigates the legal framework set by patent laws with respect to the...

Ein Großteil der Neugründungen in Deutschland ist auf staatliche Förderung von Existenzgründern zurückzuführen. Dieser Anteil hat sich nach Einführung des als „Ich-AG“ bekannten Existenzgründungszuschusses Anfang 2003 stark erhöht. Die Erfolgsfaktorenforschung hat diese Form von...