Consumers and Self-Managers: Consumer Protection and its Challenges during the Yugoslav Economic Crisis of the 1980s

Consumer protection and financial literacy are essential pillars of a well functioning and stable financial system. As the global financial crisis demonstrated, inadequate attention to consumer protection and financial literacy can lead to financial instability. Though Shari’ah principles provide a strong foundation for consumer protection, the principles alone cannot provide adequate protection because not all providers are guided by ethical precepts and the practices have deviated from the principles. To safeguard the stability of the Islamic finance industry, consumer protection frameworks that cater to the specifics of Islamic financial products should be an integral part of regulatory frameworks.

The economic crisis in Europe is often articulated as a direct consequence of Lehman Brothers’ collapse. Yet it was only in Europe that the real economic crisis was sustained in a peculiar, prolonged way. In this comparative study of the EU-27, I examine the different manifestations of the crisis with an emphasis on employment, marginalisation and inequality. Questions: How to locate the crisis and the people the most affected by it; how can different policy responses (stimulation, social investment, active labour market policies) be viewed in connection with the crisis? Methods: Using multilevel methods I analyse how individual experiences are linked to and explained by national differences. Multiple correspondence analysis is used to model subjective experiences. Results: First, there is no correlation between fiscal, financial and welfare-related aspects of the crisis. Therefore, the imbalances of the public economy do not straightforwardly justify the recent cuts to social protection. Second, and coincidently, in countries where expenditure on social protection has been maintaned, economic difficulties have been less emphatic. Non-social stimulation bears no similar benefits. Third, in the so-called post-Fordist, education-intensive economies the subjective effects of the crisis are systematically stronger. These effects are the most emphatic among the young, indicating vast sustained consequences into adulthood. However, the attitudes of young adults are straying further. The unemployed young and those working in fixed-term contracts relate differently to insecurity, lacking shared, generation-wide experiences and representations of conflict. Conclusions: Qualitative changes in the conditions of work make the crisis present everywhere in Europe, including Protestant countries where the effects of the banking crisis were limited. As a possible alternative explanation my thesis then frames the crisis as a crisis of ‘post-Fordist’ work, asking whether it is primarily ‘financial’ except as a rhetorical construct. I then discuss its broad implications to welfare and inter-generational equity.

Youth have been increasingly at the centre of the public debate of the recent years, complicit the economic crisis that hit them disproportionally and almost six years later still exhibit its persistent effects. The roots of this phenomenon go back far beyond the crisis, being structurally embedded in the cultural, economic and institutional characteristics of the countries. Young people hard times are often compared (and sometimes opposed) to the conditions of other generations, that, though strongly affected by the economic crisis, are proving to be more resilient, given a (generally) stronger “safety net” provided by greater stability and protection. Despite the great consensus existing on the fact that larger activity and employment rates for all age groups are beneficial for the society as a whole, some recent policy proposals in Europe, alarmed by the risk of a “lost generation”, seem a revival of the old “lump sum of labour” theory predicting youth and old as substitute and competitors for a fixed amount of jobs in the labour market. In this view, the present contribution aims at reassessing the institutional determinants of youth unemployment in the industrialised countries of the OECD from 1980 to 2009, in order to shed light on the long-term institutional factors hindering (or vice versa improving) youth labour market outcomes, with a focus, besides traditional labour market institutions, on the role of school-to-work transition. Empirically, the research stresses the importance of filling the skills and productivity gap by experiencing work during studies, especially by means of training contracts. Moreover, in view of the above mentioned recent policy proposals calling for job sharing between young and elderly, this contribution aims at reassessing at the comparative level the nature of the youth/old relationship in the labour market, with the aim of testing if evidence of the “boxed economy” prediction has to be found or if such dualism is only imaginary.

In Italy the worsening of the economic crisis has led to a general deterioration in households' economic conditions, with more intense effects in the South and among younger people. This work aims at providing an assessment of the social protection tools used in Italy during the crisis to support households as well as of the way policymakers chose to strengthen and improve them, putting more attention on the most disadvantaged categories and geographical areas. The analysis shows the inadequacy of the Italian social protection system, where social safety nets are still based today on the protection of open-ended contracts, while welfare focuses its resources on the elderly. The recent reform of social safety nets has reduced the imbalance between standard and atypical workers, although differences remain considerable. Against the risk of poverty a national and universal instrument still lacks. The result is an unequal impoverishment, in which young people and the South pay the highest price.

Background The relationship between the impact generated by diverse traumatic situations as wars, terrorist attacks and natural disasters with mortality in different regions of the world has been documented in clinical and experimental studies. A recent study showed that, in the absence of natural disasters or wars, financial crises might have a negative impact on cardiovascular mortality. The current experience suggests that financial crises could have a significant influence on health. Objectives To describe the trends in cardiovascular mortality rates (CVMR) in Argentina between 1995 and 2005, and to explore if there is a close temporal relationship with the changes in trends of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) as indicator of economic and financial crisis. Material and Methods The annual CVMR per 100,000 persons was calculated using the information obtained from the database of the Ministry of Health (9th and 10th International Classification of Diseases). The following causes of death were considered: heart failure (HF), acute myocardial infarction (AMI), chronic coronary artery disease (CAD) and stroke (CVA). The population estimates used as the denominator were obtained from the National Institute of Statistics and Censuses. Two economic crises were identified: the Southeast Asia crisis (1998-1999) and the end of the convertibility system (2001-2002). Joinpoint models were used to evaluate changes in trends. Results GDP showed an increasing trend (slope = 17.18) from 1995 to 1998, which decreased in the period 1998-2002 (slope = ‑12.90) and increased from 2002 to 2005 (slope = 19.88); CVMR decreased by 24.72% (from 474.9 to 357.5 per 100,000). The joinpoint model identified three slopes in CVMR: from 1995 to 1997 (‑17.94), a descending slope until 2002 (‑6.8) and an increasing slope until 2005 (slope ‑16.73). Mortality rates due to HF, MI and CVA had a similar trend, decreasing by 22.95%, 16.89% and 38.06%, respectively. Conclusions The close temporal relationship between the relative increase in cardiovascular mortality and the reduction of GDP might consider economic and financial crises as a novel psychosocial risk factor.

CHANGES OF HOUSEHOLD CONSUMPTION PATTERN BEFORE AND DURING THE ECONOMIC CRISIS. Background: It is generally agreed that the economic crisis has an impact on food insecurity and malnutrition. People's ability to secure an adequate diet during the crisis in Indonesia would have been declined, however, data are not adequately available. Objective: The purpose of this study was to examine the magnitude of the impact of the crisis on household food consumption in three rural areas: Cianjur (West Java), South Lampung (Lampung) and Tanah Datar (West Sumatera). Method: The study on food consumption had been conducted in 1993/1994 (before crisis), and a similar study was repeated in 1999 during the peak of the crisis in the same areas. A total of 346 households in the three areas were surveyed. The food consumption was recorded using a 24- hour method; knowledge and attitudes on foods were collected by interview. Information on socio-cultural and tradition surrounding foods use were also gathered. The consumption of foods as part of the five groups (staples, plant and animal protein resources, vegetables, fruits, and milk) were examined, and ranked their frequencies of consumption and their contribution to each food groups. This would allow us to make comparison on household consumption patterns in the three different areas at before and during the peak of the crisis. Results: Rice was eaten two or three times a day and there was no significant changes in the frequency of consumption of rice during the crisis. Noodes and flours were eaten less frequent, but com and cassava were increased during the crisis. Although during the crisis there was a decrease in the consumption of meat, but not the case for fresh fish, salted fish, eggs, tofu and tempeh. People's have had switched the consumption pattern more on less expensive foods. People's in Tanah Datar (West Sumatera) was apparently better in coping mechanism as the response to the crisis than the other two areas. In Tanah Datar, diet was likely more diversified, perhaps even better than the situation at before crisis. Conclusions: The results suggest that the effects of the economc crisis on household food consumption were varied, depend on the nature (land) and environment, level of education, pattern of employment and socio-cultural in each areas. Key Words: economic crisis, consumption pattern, diet, coping mechanism

This paper seeks to trace the appearance of a consensus among Chinese economists of different schools on the need for a currency reform in the 1930s. Initially the Chinese economists divided themselves into three major schools: the monetarists, the ”trade-balancers” and the Marxists. In the context of the worldwide depression, the monetarists saw a solution to the tightening money market, therefore first pleading for the imposition of export taxes on silver and later advocating a managed currency. The trade-balancers sought every possible means to balance the trade and urged for tariff protection. Viewing China's economic crisis as the product of imperialists and their Chinese feudal agents, the Marxists initially advocated a social revolution, but unable to find any hope for such prospects in the near future, they began to favor currency reform. Despite their initial disagreements, they eventually reached the same conclusion on China's need for a managed currency in dealing with the economic crisis.

The Cretan tourism sector has been characterised by a large and rapid growth from 1970 to 2000 and has gone on the primary industry of the island. Despite the fact that this growth has seemed stagnant over the last few years, tourism is still of vital importance for the local economy. Agricultural industries are strongly linked with tourism activities and usually derive numerous benefits from them. Understanding tourists’ opinions and demands plays a crucial role in implementing appropriate and sustainable future agricultural offer strategies on the island in the future. As several studies have previously indicated, the current global economic and financial crisis has deeply cut household expenditure and 2009 has been predicted to be a difficult year for the tourism industry. This research was carried out in the western prefecture of Crete, Chania, which is characterised by its high number of mass-tourism infrastructures located in the northern coast and by its mountainous rural areas delaying development in the inland and in the southern part of the prefecture. The aim of this work is first, on the basis of data on tourists’ attitudes and preferences compiled in a specific face-to-face survey conducted in August 2009, to report on the profile of the tourists that have spent their holidays in Crete; then, regarding their local product consumption and preferences, to understand the way tourism has helped Cretan agricultural demand and try to make the future management of the sector easier. Finally, an exploratory study on the short-term economic crisis effects will be undertaken by the authors in order to uncover changes in the nature of tourists’ spending patterns and trends.

Over the past several months we have been listening to and reading many explanations about the technical, political, juridical, ethical, cultural, and even psychological causes of the financial and economic world crisis. However, not very much has been said about its spiritual dimension. The reason for this could be that we seldom use the terms “spirit” or “spiritual” in relation to economic issues. Besides, we also tend to identify or subsume under the terms “ethical” or “psychological” other specifically different human phenomena that cannot really be so simply identified with the former. In this chapter I will argue that the crisis shows us, apart from these other dimensions, a specific spiritual dimension. I will also assume a meaning of spirituality understood as our deepest –or highest – activity as human beings, through which we can communicate at some point with the ultimate roots of ourselves that constitute us as beings and with our ultimate ends that orientate and give a final meaning and purpose to our lives.

. Historical studies of the music theatre history in Ukraine, in particular, the problems of the Italian opera formation and activities, in the context of intercultural communication, can not be limited to the comprehension of issues exclusively in musical and performing arts. The positioning of the theatre as a sociocultural phenomenon involves consideration of the artistic activity of the Italian enterprise in the close interrelation of scenic art with the culture of theatricality, the everyday culture of the city, the managerial and financial activities of the enterprise through the reproduction or, if necessary, reconstruction of communicational models in the system of such relations as an artiste — audience, a theatre — theatrical directorate, an artiste — impresario, an artiste — local power, etc.; all of them were in constant interaction with each other. The application of this approach, in particular, to the study of the Italian enterprise of Odesa activities in the difficult period of 1853—1854, when the events of the Eastern War, developed, can reveal not only new socio-cultural factors for deepening the theatrical crisis, but also those that belonged to the sociopolitical and economic area. Objectives. The objectives of this study are to investigate the activities of the Italian operatic troupe of Odesa in the theatrical season of 1853—1854 in the context of aggravation of the military-political and economic crisis in the Black Sea region at the beginning of the Eastern War, on the basis of attracting archival sources, publications in local and foreign periodicals. The methods used in the present article assume the application of the semiotic approach, as well as the implementation of mosaic reconstructions and cross-disciplinary investigations that allow to study the music theatre as an entire social and cultural space. Results. One of the most complex and dramatic pages of merchant S. Androsov’s four-year Italian opera enterprise in the city theatre of Odesa has been studied. Theatrical debts, accumulated during the first years of his family enterprise, in the conditions of the deployment of the Crimean War and the impossibility of international maritime trade, which provided financial means for repayment of impresario debts, led to the enterprise bankruptcy. The characteristics of singers’ engagement in Italy are described, the content and character of the troupe scenic activity are highlighted, vocal and dramatic virtues of the leading soloists are analyzed. The operatic repertoire, where dominated the masterpieces of Verdi and G. Donizetti, has been proved to contain mainly new operas, being popular in Italy and other Western European countries. The main reasons for the failure of the premieres and some debut performances and the decline of audience’s interest in the Italian opera were revealed, namely: limited vocal and dramatic means of Italian artistes, a weak performing ensemble, problems with the formation of the full body of the troupe and its financing, caused by the lack of entrepreneurs ’ experience in the field of the theatrical management. Conclusions. Activity of the Italian enterprise of Odesa in the period of 1853—1854 carried out in the conditions of the economic and political crisis caused by the beginning of the Eastern War. Consequently, the limitation of theatre support opportunities through sutlerness incomes in port quarantine, the need to repay debts for previous periods together with impresario V. Androsov’s and his companion E. Kechribardzhi’s inexperience and negligence caused new debts and resulted in the final bankruptcy of the enterprise. The troupe that arrived in Odesa in groups during the theatrical year, were engaged in austerity saving, included along with well-known in European theatres experienced singers, a part of young artistes, recent graduates of conservatories as well as performers with limited voice data and mediocre actor abilities. All these factors influenced the quality of the ensemble, caused the decrease of the Italian opera popularity, as well as, at the end of the opera season, the failure to keep the contract requirements for the new operas staging. At the same time, appearances in the troupe of the European celebrity A. Cortesi-Crippa, artistically and vocally talented singers M. Zakki, M. Viani, C. Guarducci, J. Sikorsky-Moriani contributed to the preservation of Odesa opera performance traditions, presented to the audience the best examples of voice part performance in famous operas by G. Verdi, G. Donizetti and other popular Italian composers of that time. V Androsov’s and E. Kechribardzhi’s enterprise in the Odesa City Theatre as one of the pages of the Italian opera house, existed until 1873, activity is worth to be studied as an integral element of the music culture of the city and of the entire Black Sea-Azov region.

Background: Greece, alongside other European countries, is facing constant immigration inflow. Rising immigration creates unprecedented pressures on local health systems. This situation is aggravated by the current circumstances of economic recession in Greece. Health professionals are at the coal face of health care, being in constant clinical contact with immigrants. This study explored Greek health professionals’ perspectives on, and experiences of, caring for the various categories of immigrants in the context of economic crisis. Methods: A theoretical framework, consisting of political and economic theories about the provision of health care and concepts of culturally competent care, served as a tool to explore and interpret issues in the provision of care to immigrants from health professionals’ perspective. A qualitative study was conducted based on 20 interviews with health workers of various professional identities and experiences who were practicing in public health care services in Attica and Central Greece. The participants were recruited via purposeful sampling. Interview data were analysed using thematic analysis. Results: Interviewees highlighted problems relating to the social status of immigrant populations, the impact of the current economic crisis, the existing legislation regulating access to health care and the utilisation of health services by immigrants. Reported organisational difficulties were related to health system deficiencies and shortfalls in culturally competent care. The participants’ accounts revealed problematic staff attitudes towards immigrants, cultural differences between staff and the immigrants they cared for, and failures in communication with immigrant patients. Measures to improve health care for immigrants are suggested. Conclusions: The provision of health services to immigrants is a challenging task. Problems were found to be interrelated and their effects determine health outcomes. Managing the identified problems with appropriate health policies and practices should be prioritised in order to protect both immigrants’ and non-immigrant public health.

State's emergency power is a responding system adopted by a democratic constitutional state in emergency to consolidate sovereignty and guarantee civil rights. Thus, to a country ruled by laws, the power can only be exercised in emergency. Once the crisis ends, the power is terminated immediately. In the past, Taiwan has been enforced martial law for a long time. With the process of democratization, Taiwan has transformed from authoritarian period to democratic constitutionalism. However, the existing laws seem to be unable to receive immediate effect on the occurrence of many natural disasters, counter-terrorism and economic crisis. Therefore, this text clarifies the specification and design that constitutional emergency power should have from the deficiency in the implementation of state's emergency power in previous time, and hope to realize the legalization of emergency power in Taiwan as soon as possible, so that the government can exert maximum efficiency, handle crisis, guarantee the return of democracy and protect human rights.

Résumé Formant un modèle régional diversifié, les organisations et institutions sans but lucratif en Europe sont fragilisées par la crise économique et l’évolution libérale de la politique communautaire. Appauvries, transformées en sous-traitantes des programmes européens, leur innovation bridée, elles risquent, surtout dans le secteur social, de ne plus pouvoir comme aujourd’hui garantir une part importante du bien-être des Européens.

Introduction One of the most important factors that encourages consumers to purchase goods or use services, and make them choose one of them among various goods and services, is the design of products and services or their packaging. Due to this importance, intellectual property rights protect the design of goods and services or their packaging. However, this protection is not limited to one branch of intellectual property rights and it is possible that various aspects of intellectual property rights protect the design and packaging under some conditions. In this regard, the question that arises here is what are the differences between the protection in various forms of intellectual property rights and that which protection is more appropriate? And finally, is multiple protection possible? Theoretical Framework The present article attempts to examine the aforementioned issue in two parts. In the first part, protection of design or packaging through various aspects of intellectual property rights will be studied and compared with each other. Then, in the second part, the protection of designs and packaging through multiple legal frameworks is evaluated and scrutinized. Methodology This study attempts to find an answer to questions above by using an analytical-descriptive approach. To this aim, this study seeks to draw a comparison between the various branches of intellectual property rights by using desk research through making use of articles, books, and conducted studies. In some cases, this study benefits from practical examples and judicial decisions in different countries. In addition, in order to investigate more about Iranian legal system, a field research was conducted and then discussed with relevant experts. Results and Discussion The results show that various branches of intellectual property rights for protection of design of goods and services or their packaging differ from each other in many ways, including conditions, term, and registration requisiteness. The following table can show the comparison between the different branches in summary. Drawbacks Benefits Term Type - Must be distinctive. - Must be nonfunctional. - Must be registered (in most legal systems). - No need to originality. - No need to novelty. - The longest period of protection. As long as use is continued (subject to extension) Trade mark Trade dress)) - Must be novel. - Must be original (in some legal systems). - Must be nonfunctional. - Must be registered. - The shortest period of protection. - No need to distinction. - Protection through this branch can help to acquire distinction and cause trade dress protection in future. 10 – 25 years Industrial designs - Must be original. - Possibility of creating similar works by others. - No need to distinction. - No need to novelty. - No need to registration (in most legal systems). Life of author + 50 years after his death Copyright - Not grant of exclusive rights to the owner. - Proof of civil liability's elements in a lawsuit. - No need to the conditions of intellectual property rights (distinction, novelty, originality) - No need to registration. - Protection of consumers and public along with the right holder. Unlimited Unfair competition Conclusion The results of this study show that a decisive response about the most appropriate branch of intellectual property rights in relation to protection of design of goods and services or their packaging cannot be given, because each aspects of intellectual property rights has several advantages and disadvantages and ultimately, the designer can determine which branch is more suitable to protect his design or packaging. On the other hand, it should be noted that different legal systems accept multiple protection of a design or packaging, as each legal framework is independent of other formats regarding purpose, function, and conditions.

The study considers competitive advantages and weaknesses of travel and tourism sectors in Greece and Ukraine. There is a divergence in the sector performance indicators and competitive advantages between the countries. Travel and tourism industry accounts for 7.6% GDP in Greece and only 1.4% in Ukraine. In recent years competitiveness of the sector in Greece improved by several indicators. Meanwhile the travel and tourism industry of Ukraine encountered major challenges under economic crisis and hybrid war initiated by Russia (including losing control over 30% of registered collective accommodation facilities). Both countries prioritized raising price competitiveness instead of further tourism services infrastructure development and business environment improvement relatively to the rest of the world. At the same time Greece made progress in safety and security, industry specific support, environmental protection and ground transport infrastructure development, while Ukraine favoured improvements in human and cultural resources. Greece was able to increase international tourism receipts and especially international tourist arrivals, which fits the forecasts. According to our estimation in Ukraine international tourism receipts are 3-4 times less than the potential level under keeping territorial integrity and no crisis scenario. Nowadays there is a clear imbalance in bilateral tourist flows between Greece and Ukraine in favour of visiting Greece. There is a potential for increasing the bilateral tourism links and several policy recommendations are made for that.