Terms Of Concessions Research Articles

Coordination between a supplier and a retailer in terms of profit concession for a two-stage supply chain

This paper introduces a coordination model that copes with the conflicts between a supplier and a retailer in a two-stage supply chain. In this model, the supplier aims to maximise his/her profit, while the retailer aims to maximise his/her expected profit under a stochastic demand. To solve this model, an -coordination solution to this model is introduced, which implies the supplier and the retailer both will make a same concession in their profits to cooperate with each other. Further, we show that each feasible solution to this model is an -coordination solution for a sufficiently large value , while the -optimum coordination solution gives the minimum concession for the supplier and the retailer. Besides, it is proved that the -optimum coordination solution can be obtained by solving a mathematical programming problem. At last, a numerical example and sensitivity analysis are given to show the performance of the proposed method.

Social Movements against Gold Mining

Abstract The objectives of this research are to study 1) the framing process of the social movements against mining in Northeastern Thailand and 2) the impact of the social movements. Two social movements were purposely selected for the study, namely the movement against potash mine in Udonthani province and the movement against gold mine in Loei province. Qualitative and comparative case study was used. Data were collected by means of in-depth interview and participant and non-participant observation. The data of the two cases were then compared and analyzed for their similarities and differences before the final conclusions were drawn. The research has adopted the collective action framing tasks proposed by Snow and Benford to study the framing process. These include diagnostic framing, prognostic framing, and motivational framing. Regarding diagnostic framing, “injustice frames” was identified, which confirmed previous studies. In addition, this research was able to identify two other important diagnostic framings shared by the two cases under study, one being the state's development policy biased towards industrial development that is against agricultural development and rural people's way of life, and the other being the alliance between the state and the private sector. Based on these three diagnostic frames, two levels of corresponding prognostic framing were made. The movement demanded that the state make structural reform through the amendment of the mining law and changed unfair mining concession terms. At the local level, movement representatives stood for local government elections with the aims to make local structural reforms, tackle monopoly problems, and change local development policies. As for the motivational framing, the vocabularies used to mobilize movement participation were “disastrous mining” and “dangerous impact” to warn against the severity and urgency of the problems, while putting forward the “community culture” discourse as a mobilizing tool. With regards to the movement impact, the research found that the social movements against mining in Northeastern Thailand could not discontinue or cease the mining projects. However, the movements were able to delay the concession and the mining expansion processes. The delays were interpreted as the movement's success and victory by movement leaders and supporters.

China and the WTO

The 'rise' of China stands as one of the most significant developments in global politics in the post-cold war era. Yet, China's rise has not been uniformly welcomed. For some, it has generated fears that the PRC's growing global prominence will inevitably be malignant; for others the rise of China has been largely 'system-preserving' in character. While a consensus has yet to emerge, the dominance of the debate has ensured that investigations into the factors shaping the PRC's international relations and, with regard to the subject of this paper, its behaviour in the World Trade Organisation (WTO) have been too bound up with, and as a result too distracted by, the search for proof of 'real' intentions and less concerned with clear analysis. We seek to move beyond the strictures of this debate to investigate more thoroughly the factors shaping China's trade diplomacy.We argue that an examination of the factors shaping China's trade diplomacy must take into account the strong effects exerted on that diplomacy by its membership of the WTO. To substantiate our argument, we begin by setting out some conceptual markers on what we know about the peculiarities of international institutions as a framework for understanding how the WTO as an institution affects China. We then explore key developments in China's political economy to the point at which the PRC acceded to the organisation before considering how the pursuit of WTO membership has shaped Chinese development, its trade diplomacy, and impact on the WTO of China's membership. We conclude that while WTO accession may have altered the composition of the organisation's core decision-making group by placing China at its heart, it has been sufficiently, and perhaps uniquely costly to China in terms of concessions made, in closing down room for manoeuvre in the current Doha round and in constraining the PRC's capacity to switch from an export-led to a domestic consumption based model of development.

Traffic uncertainty in toll motorway concessions in Spain

This study assessed the inaccuracy of the traffic estimates for toll motorway concessions in Spain. It was found that the estimates conducted by both the government and the concessionaire showed a significant bias towards overestimating traffic. The level of overestimation in Spain is even greater than that reported by other studies based on worldwide data. The notorious levels of overestimation entail severe burdens to the economics of the concessionaires that often prompt renegotiations of the contracts, which are often accepted by the government. These renegotiations usually end up with toll changes or extension of the concession terms, which have to be ultimately borne by future motorway users. It is postulated herein that the bias towards overestimating traffic in toll motorways in Spain is mostly caused by strategic issues rather than by modelling errors.

El problemático plazo de las concesiones de uso del dominio público (a propósito de la Resolución de la DGRN de 4 de diciembre de 2012)

El presente comentario analiza la resolución de la DGRN de 4 de diciembre de 2012 la cual se encarga de abordar la problemática cuestión del plazo de las concesiones demaniales y su relación con la inscripción en el Registro de la Propiedad.

Systemic Reflection on the EC-IT Product Case: Establishing an ‘Understanding’ on Maintaining the Product Coverage of the Current Information Technology Agreement in the Face of Techn

The dividing character of the Information Technology Agreement (ITA), separating information technology (IT) products in the list from those yet to be included, by its nature, might make the ITA stumble on the converging technology trend. The European Communities and Its Members States - Tariff Treatment of Certain Information Technology Products (hereinafter 'EC-IT Product') case has opened up Pandora's box: would original ITA products, after technological change, still be included in the ITA? In light of the terms of relevant concessions being interpreted, the Panel establishes that the ITA could be dynamic along with new technology in that the addition of new technology or features would not necessarily warrant the exclusion of the ITA products from the duty-free coverage. However, because of the limitation on the scope of coverage through terms and conditions or the use of HS interpretative rules, ITA products might be excluded as a result; this is not necessarily supportive in terms of the ITA. The author argues that the dispute settlement mechanism does not provide a satisfactory systemic solution for the ITA. In this regard, the author proposes that establishing an 'understanding' on the maintenance of product coverage of current ITA under technological change, which includes the use of 'like product' analysis and the development of an 'indicative good practices guidance', might serve as a pragmatic tool and the starting point for further discussions towards finding the 'simple, transparent, and expeditious solution' contemplated by the ITA Committee.

The Political Economy of Class Compromise: Trade Unions, Capital-Labour Relations and Development in North East Brazil1

This article investigates how capitallabour relations (encompassing processes of class formation, representation, struggle and compromise) impact on emerging regions developmental trajectories. It does so because much of development studies portray labour simply as an input (human capital) subordinate to more fundamental processes such as capital investment and accumulation. The paper draws on and extends insights gained from the new working class studies and global commodity chains literatures in order to examine evolving capitallabour relationsfrom relatively militant struggles to class compromisein an emerging sector of North East Brazilian export horticulture. It identifies sources of workers structural and associational power and uses these to explain significant gains achieved by the regions rural trade union during the formation of the export horticulture sector. It then asks, why, despite continuing structural power, the regions trade union has entered into a class compromise with the leading employers via (a) reducing its militancy and its strategy of striking against employers to win concessions, and (b) shifting its objectives in terms of concessions sought. It speculates on the impacts of these changing class relations on the regions developmental trajectory.

The economics behind the awarding of terminals in seaports: Towards a research agenda

Terminal concessions in seaports have only recently gained interest in academic circles. Issues such as the allocation mechanisms (to be) used for granting those concessions, the determination of the concession term and concession fees, as well as the inclusion of special clauses aimed at assuring that the terminal operator will act in the interest of the port authority and the wider community, are increasingly relevant to both academics and the port industry. So far, insights from established economic theories have rarely been applied to terminal concessions in seaports. It, therefore, remains to be seen which kind of awarding procedure would be best for which type of terminal concession. This contribution provides a detailed overview of the different phases of the terminal awarding process, including a classification scheme for awarding procedures, and contains an extensive discussion on the economic issues that require further investigation. The paper concludes by proposing a comprehensive research agenda on the topic.

Automated Approach to Negotiations of BOT Contracts with the Consideration of Project Risk

The terms of concession including tariff and concession period are often discussed intensively during negotiations of build-operate-transfer (BOT) contracts. Based on prior studies on negotiation terms and risk of BOT contracts, this paper incorporates risk attributes of the BOT project into the formulation of a contractual-negotiation model. The proposed model allows the government and the sponsor to reach a consensus on the terms should the financial return as well as the risk of the project be determined. The pro forma cash flow of a BOT project is developed and used to generate the probability distribution of net present values (NPV) from the owner’s viewpoint by using Monte Carlo simulation. High- and low-risk scenarios are obtained to determine whether the contractual-negotiation models vary in accordance with risk levels. Results show that, given the expected NPV, the sponsor should be offered more favorable concessional terms for projects with high risk than that with low risk. We suggest that the government and industry practitioners embody the risk attributes of the project in the automated contractual-negotiation model.

Effect of Diversification of Operation Cost on Infrastructure BOT Project Investment Decision and Analysis of Option Game

According to the option characteristic of environmental protection infrastructure build-operate-transfer (BOT) project, this paper sets the concession term as the government's decision variable and adopts option game method to analyze the investment behavior of the project company under the condition that the government makes the concession term certain, and establishes the decision-making models both for the concession term and the investment cost of environmental protection infrastructure. The result shows that to introduce the growth option makes the concession term more reasonable, and the project company enhances the investment in construction cost to benefit itself. Consequently, the time of government operating the environmental protection infrastructure will be lengthened.

Empresas autónomas y grupos de inversión. Las empresas del grupo Morrison en Rosario, Argentina (1890–1930)

In order to think over the historiographical debate of the decreasing profitability of the British investments in Argentina from the first postwar period onwards, the performance of two English public utility companies in Rosario are analyzed from the beginning of their activities, at the end of the 19th century, up to 1930: The Rosario Waterworks Company and the Rosario City Improvements. The two companies were under control of the same investment group (Morrison), however their performances diverged. Throughout the analysis of the accounting data, we examine the firms’ management and the elements that influenced their revenues and profitability: waterworks and sewerage utilities production conditions and demand, the relationship with authorities according to the concession terms, and the managerial strategies in changing domestic and international capital markets.

The shaping of urban telephone networks in Europe, 1877–1926

This article analyses the spread of public utilities and urban development through a wide-ranging comparison of European cities. It considers variables that are not simply demand-based to explain the diffusion of the telephone. The article explores the relationship between variables, city size, position in the urban hierarchy, urban growth and the function of the city in relation to the spread of the telephone. It concludes that the scale and the function of the city, together with the terms of concession and management strategies, were crucial for the diffusion of the telephone throughout Europe's cities.

Trade liberalization in the Doha Development Round

Doha Round The Doha Round faced a long series of launch-delays and a spectacular launch-failure in Seattle in 1999. While the talks did take off in 2001, the negotiating agenda is still ambiguous in a number of crucial areas. This paper argues that these ambiguities matter greatly. Such ambiguities include the meaning of ‘flexibility and exemptions’, which are part of the evolving framework for market access negotiations. This may (or may not) be read as allowing developing countries to opt for much smaller concessions than those to be undertaken by the OECD, or even for no concessions. To explore these issues, we examine the impact of multilateral liberalization, developing possible trade liberalization under the Doha Round, starting from a realistic ‘baseline’ including Chinese WTO Accession and the 2004 EU enlargement. This allows us to focus on effects specifically attributable to trade liberalization under the Doha Round and the potential impact of the Doha Round itself. To this end we employ a global applied general equilibrium model, featuring imperfect competition and variety effects. Scenarios include agriculture, manufactures, and services liberalization, as well as trade facilitation. We conclude that active developing country participation in terms of market access concessions is critical to their prospects. If developing countries continue for the most part with business as usual after the round, in terms of trade policy, there is little scope for actual benefits accruing to developing countries. South-South trade liberalization is key to the ‘development’ part of the Doha Development Agenda. — Joseph Francois, Hans van Meijl and Frank van Tongeren

Improving the benefits of wildlife harvesting in Northern Cameroon: a co-management perspective

We examined ways of improving the incentive structure of a safari company, the state, and the local communities within a wildlife co-management framework in Northern Cameroon. To this end, we built an integer linear programming model with state-allocated quotas and a profit maximisation objective function for a typical hunting concession. The model was evaluated under three scenarios representing varying taxation schemes and apportionment of trophy fees and company's profits. Further, we set forth three principles that should underlie a good incentive structure, namely (i) a close link to the resource base, (ii) economic sustainability, and (iii) a transfer of land property rights from the state to the communities neighbouring the hunting areas. Our results indicate that the safari company would improve its profits if the concession term is extended to 15 years and a single business tax is substituted to the current myriad of levies. The local communities should be apportioned 25% of the trophy fees and a negotiated percentage of the company's profit, in return for resource custodianship. Finally, the state could expect an increased efficiency of its conservation policy through an improved regulatory framework and a more equitable distribution of wildlife revenues.

Airport Privatizations

As a result of many recently announced privatization, increased activity is expected to finance airport expansions through to the world. The U.S. capital markets will be a natural source for this financing because of increasing fiscal constraints faced by local governments combined with long-termed nature of required debt for these capital-intensive assets. In the view of Duff & Phelps Credit Rating Company, key factors that can determine access to private sector funding for any airport privatization may include concession terms, the quality of the airport operator, the economic, legal and regulatory environment, equitable distribution of all risks. Those risks include offtake, or commercial risk; construction risk; operator risk; and currency risk.

Social value orientations and negotiator outcomes

Social value orientations (SVOs) are known to influence individual behaviour in outcome interdependent settings. By extending these findings to negotiation, this research investigates the relationship between own and partners' SVOs, negotiator strategies and outcomes. Results showed that cooperators, competitors and individualists could be distinguished in terms of initial demands and concessions. Competitors made higher initial demands and larger concessions than individualists or cooperators, suggesting that their ability to maximize outcome differences rests on whether structural features are congruent with this goal. The principal finding of this research was the demonstration that own and partners' SVO interact to determine outcomes. Results showed that the three SVO groups differed in terms of context sensitivity: competitor outcomes were invariant across partners; individualists achieved poor outcomes in negotiations with cooperators and, reciprocally, cooperators attained high outcomes in negotiations with individualists. Additionally, individualist outcomes worsened in their last negotiation, while those of cooperators differed as a function of role and partner's SVO. These results suggest that although the information used by individualists and cooperators differs, for both groups the cognitive representation of negotiations is a further factor influencing their outcomes.

Deadlocks in International Negotiations

The subject of this article is how deadlocks in international negotiations may be solved. Despite the fact that deadlock is a common phenomenon in international negotiations, this subject has received little attention from negotiation theorists. This analysis, which is based on five instances of deadlocks that occurred during the Paris Peace Conference of 1919, focuses on (a) the negotiating parties' attempts and ability to solve deadlocks by coercion and persuasion, package deals and fractionating, and innovations, (b) how non-controversial elements, uncertainty, vagueness, symbolic formulas and residual disagreement can be used to solve deadlocks, and (c) how the perceptions of the negotiation and the presence of internal negotiations may limit the negotiation parties' possibilities to solve deadlocks. The analysis shows that innovations that are non-controversial, in the sense that they are hard to relate to the positions of the parties in terms of concessions or retractions, may play an important role in solving deadlocks. Furthermore, it indicates that agreements that follow deadlocks are often characterized by uncertainty, vagueness, symbolic formulas and residual disagreement.

Contractual arrangements for the exploitation of natural gas in developing countries

In this paper we discuss contracts used in the exploration and development of gas reserves in developing countries. Natural gas has several features that distinguish it from oil. Most importantly, gas pipelines are relatively expensive and have large economies of scale. Additionally, for most countries gas must be sold on internal markets, usually to state monopsony buyers. The foreign oil company must therefore become involved in a close and long-term relationship with the relevant state agencies. The paper discusses the nature of the bilateral relationship between oil company and state during a gas project. Long-term development contracts and the clauses that deal with this relationship are discussed. In addition contract terms to encourage exploration, including concession terms, are reviewed. Finally, we conclude with a discussion of optimal contract forms and likely requirements for future gas projects.

Developments in West Greenland in 1974

Seven groups submitted applications in 1974 for the first offshore acreage in southwest Greenland available for license awards expected in April 1975. Concession terms are stiff and add up to 80% government take.

Australia, Geophysical Exploration, and Great Artesian Basin: ABSTRACT

Petroleum exploration began in the Great Artesian basin of Australia in 1900 with the recovery of a strong flow of gas from a depth of approximately 3,500 feet in a hole drilled on Hospital Hill at Roma, Queensland, in an attempt to strengthen the town's artesian water supply. Drilling, both sporadic and intense (including 20 holes in the boom exploration year of 1929), has continued in the area through the years. The lack of significant surface outcrops in much of the basin, and an unconformity at the base of the Mesozoic cover, made structural analysis by means of surface studies difficult, if not impossible. At the request of the exploration companies still operating in the Roma area in 1947, the Bureau of Mineral Resources carried out magnetic and gravity surveys and two experimental seismic surveys from 1947 to 1953. Electric logging of test wells was begun in 1954 but, by the mid-1950s, few of the basin's structural or stratigraphic problems had been solved. Encouraged by liberal concession terms and government subsidies, serious geophysical exploration was started by the Australian-owned Associated Group in 1959. Major world oil firms joined the search in 1960 and the exploration techniques developed in other parts of the world were brought to bear on the problems of the basin. Geophysical data, augmented by information from many test wells, have made it possible to strip the Mesozoic mantle from the basin and have disclosed not a single large basin but many basins. The commercial return from a large exploration investment has been disappointing to date but the chapter is not yet complete. Gas has been found in abundance, yet the Moonie field remains the only oil field of consequence. Moonie and Alton oil are reaching the market but gas still awaits a gathering network of pipelines. The structural and stratigraphic framework of this great basin is still being drawn from a decelerated program of geophysical exploration. Somewhere within the assemblage of data probably lies the key to discovery of a major oil field which, when found, will provide the impetus for completion of the geophysical-geological mapping job. End_of_Article - Last_Page 483------------