Showing papers in "Prometheus in 1995"
TL;DR: The story of how the US managed to secure an agreement, which heavily favored it, on intellectual property at the GATT, has important implications for global information flows as discussed by the authors, and understanding this event, the paper argues, will help us to understand some of the mechanisms which operate to bring about global regulatory institutions.
Abstract: The paper tells the story of how the US managed to secure an agreement, which heavily favoured it, on intellectual property at the GATT. This agreement has important implications for global information flows. Understanding this event, the paper argues, will help us to understand some of the mechanisms which operate to bring about global regulatory institutions. Coercion of some kind will be fundamental to the constitution of global regulatory orders.
169 citations
TL;DR: Care Carey as discussed by the authors edited by Andrew Lohrey (University of New South Wales Press, Sydney, 1995), xvii + 214pp, $22.95, ISBN 0 868 40 358X.
Abstract: (1995). Taking the Risk out of Democracy by Alex Carey, edited by Andrew Lohrey (University of New South Wales Press, Sydney, 1995), xvii + 214pp, $22.95, ISBN 0 868 40 358X. Prometheus: Vol. 13, No. 2, pp. 294-295.
55 citations
TL;DR: Rubinstein this paper, W. D. Rubinstein (1995), Capitalism, Culture and Decline in Britain 1750-1990, published by Routledge, London, 1994, pp. 319-321.
Abstract: (1995). Capitalism, Culture and Decline in Britain 1750-1990 by W. D. Rubinstein (Routledge, London, 1994), pp. viii + 184, A$27.95, ISBN 0-415-03719-0. Prometheus: Vol. 13, No. 2, pp. 319-321.
16 citations
TL;DR: The authors found that journalists who are stressed and those who admit to being cynics are less sanguine about the benefits of technology, while those who are job-satisfied and optimistic about the future are more pro-technology.
Abstract: The new technology which has revolutionised newsrooms over the last decade has been generally accepted by Australian journalists, who believe the quality of their work has improved and time savings have occurred. Older journalists are somewhat less enthusiastic, but when controlling for age there are no sex differences in reactions to technology. Journalists who are stressed and those who admit to being cynics are less sanguine about the benefits of technology, while those who are job-satisfied and optimistic about the future are more pro-technology.
16 citations
TL;DR: Communication that induces a community to make itself better prepared against natural disasters must incorporate messages inspiring people to find it worthwhile to search for more information about what they and their neighbours and friends can do for themselves to reduce the risks.
Abstract: Although natural hazards information is enthusiastically promulgated, research shows that the majority of the public adopt few of the self-protective behaviours recommended by civil defence authorities. Fear appeals seem to be unpredictable in their results and largely ineffective in their desired outcomes. Some of the complex factors intervening between perception and behaviour are reviewed. Communication that induces a community to make itself better prepared against natural disasters must incorporate messages inspiring people to find it worthwhile to search for more information about what they and their neighbours and friends can do for themselves to reduce the risks.
11 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors argue that the timing of containerisation was determined by organisational as opposed to technological factors and that informational externalities were most probably responsible for any delay in the container system's introduction.
Abstract: The containerisation revolution, despite being centered on a relatively simple technology, did not take over the cargo shipping industry until the 1960s. This paper argues that the timing of its introduction was determined by organisational as opposed to technological factors. This argument is developed by looking at the events leading up to the introduction of containers into cargo shipping. The rapid spread of containers and the role of standards are also considered. Nonetheless, given the nature of finding coherent organisational patterns and complementarities, it is argued that informational externalities were most probably responsible for any delay in the container system's introduction.
10 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors unpack the notion and process of "cultural change" and emphasise the social dynamics that underpin such change, in order to understand how individual scientists and institutions have responded to these changing research environments.
Abstract: Research institutions and universities have undergone significant organisational change during the past decade. While these organisations have been pressed to attract an increasingly larger proportion of their research budget from industry, they have introduced business principles and practices in order to manage their scientific research and to focus it more on producing commercial outcomes. As individual scientists and institutions have responded to these changing research environments, the research cultures of these organisations have undergone a transformation. This paper seeks to unpack the notion and process of ‘cultural change’ and to emphasise the social dynamics that underpin such change.
8 citations
TL;DR: The Structure of Payoffs by William J. Baumol as mentioned in this paper is a popular topic in entrepreneurship, management, and the structure of payoffs, which has been studied extensively in the literature.
Abstract: (1995). Entrepreneurship, Management, and the Structure of Payoffs by William J. Baumol (The MIT Press, Cambridge, Mass., 1993) pp. xii + 312, US$29.95, ISBN 0–262–02360–1. Prometheus: Vol. 13, No. 1, pp. 127-129.
6 citations
6 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors describe systematic differences in the prices and quantities of general practitioner services and general practitioner incomes provided in different regions of the State of Queensland for 1991-92.
Abstract: The Commonwealth Government has recently implemented a scheme which involves financial incentives for general practitioners to relocate from urban areas to rural/ remote areas of Australia. The purpose of this scheme is to redress differential provision and utilisation of general practice services across space. This paper describes systematic differences in the prices and quantities of general practitioner services and general practitioner incomes provided in different regions of the State of Queensland for 1991-92. More specifically, it is found that prices and incomes are higher in more remote regions of the state. The paper concludes with a consideration of an alternative policy, i.e. relocation could be effected by the dissemination of information on the regional differences in prices and incomes.
5 citations
TL;DR: A review of MITI schemes prior to the Fifth Generation announcement reveals that, for the most part, they were neither pre-competitive nor collaborative as discussed by the authors, and problems with abstracting the operation of the MITI's schemes from other aspects of Japan's national innovation system undermine their value as a model for UK policy.
Abstract: The announcement by Japan's Ministry of Trade and Industry in 1981 of its intention to use government-sponsored collaborative research to lead the world towards ‘Fifth Generation’ computing prompted a sudden enthusiasm for collaboration in Europe and the US. The UK was at the vanguard of this movement to ‘learn from Japan’ and used pre-competitive collaborative research as the central organizing theme of its Alvey Programme to strengthen the country's ability to compete in advanced information technology (IT). While Alvey produced a number of benefits, commercialization of research outputs fell short of popular Western perceptions of Japan's achievements. However, a review of MITI schemes prior to the Fifth Generation announcement reveals that, for the most part, they were neither pre-competitive nor collaborative. Moreover, problems with abstracting the operation of MITI's schemes from other aspects of Japan's national innovation system undermine their value as a model for UK policy.
TL;DR: The transformation of the interface between academic institutions and their environment can be depicted in terms of moving boundaries: the academic-commercial, managerial and university work as discussed by the authors, which represent fundamental transformations of universities, in structure, referent external objectives, meaning and work.
Abstract: The transformation of the interface between academic institutions and their environment can be depicted in terms of moving boundaries: the academic-commercial, managerial and university work. These movements represent fundamental transformations of universities, in structure, referent external objectives, meaning and work. It is of great importance to realise that whilst these changes may appear from close up to be unique to changes within the Australian scene, they are not. Instead, the movement of the three boundaries is set within shifts that are currently going on within global society. Representing as they do, deep penetration of commercial market parameters into the very premises of acadaemia, these changes represent the impact of postmodernism on contemporary academic work.
TL;DR: The Rebirth of Australian Industry by P.l. Sheehan, Nick Pappas and Enijiang Chang (Centre for Strategic Economi c Studies, Victoria University of Technology, Melbourne, 1994) pp. 119-120 as discussed by the authors
Abstract: (1995). The Rebirth of Australian Industry by P.l. Sheehan, Nick Pappas and Enijiang Chang (Centre for Strategic Economi c Studies, Victoria University of Technology, Melbourne, 1994) pp. x + 240, $29.95, ISBN 1-86272-442-3 (paper) Prometheus: Vol. 13, No. 1, pp. 119-120.
TL;DR: In the years between 1887 and 1910, two major processes for the extraction of precious and base metals from their ores, the cyanide and the flotation processes, were developed.
Abstract: In the years between 1887 and 1910, two major processes for the extraction of precious and base metals from their ores, the cyanide and the flotation processes, were developed. While these were very important advances in the technology affecting the mining industry (and are still as important now as they were when first used) they were both subjected to fierce litigation in the Courts. This is the story of the cyanide process.
TL;DR: In the former CMEA countries, the following developments are likely to occur in the areas of telecommunications and databanks: 1. Eastern Europe will loose human resources through brain drain, 2. Owing to a chronic lack of hard currency, information transfer from West to East will decrease, 3. In telecommunications, the technical integrity of networking will be endangered by inadequate planning as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: In the areas of telecommunications and databanks, the following developments are likely to occur in the former CMEA countries: I. Eastern Europe will loose human resources through brain drain. 2. Owing to a chronic lack of hard currency, information transfer from West to East will decrease. 3. The change from large national markets to small markets will involve immense cost and will impede the development of market economies. 4. In telecommunications, the technical integrity of networking will be endangered by inadequate planning. 5. Improvement to only metropolitan telecommunications and supply of telecommunications only in response to economic demand will deprive the general market of investment and ensure that telecommunications is available only to the rich. 6. Financing of Eastern European telecommunications by Western European firms will lead to dependency. 7. Western telecommunications firms will be interested in serving only the economically powerful. 8. Eastern European enterprises will become me...
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors address the apparent perception of the nature and value of research on the part of the Department of Employment, Education and Training and their political masters in the context of government policy as a whole in the tertiary sector.
Abstract: Unlike other Western democracies, Australia makes negligible provision for scholars, who work largely outside institutions, notwithstanding the fact that much valuable research is produced and published by such individuals. This exclusion is symptomatic of a much grosser distortion in the general administration of research funding. This paper addresses firstly the apparent perception of the nature and value of research on the part of the Department of Employment, Education and Training and their political masters in the context of government policy as a whole in the tertiary sector; secondly, the impact of this policy on the life of the academic, especially the academic in the humanities and social sciences; and thirdly the likely impact of the policy on the nature and quality of current research.
TL;DR: Howard H. Frederick as mentioned in this paper, 1995, Global Communication and International Relations by Howard H.Frederick (Wadsworth Publishing Company, Belmont, California, 1993), pp. 280-283.
Abstract: (1995). Global Communication and International Relations by Howard H. Frederick (Wadsworth Publishing Company, Belmont, California, 1993), pp. xvi + 287. A$35.95. ISBN 0-534-19344-7. Prometheus: Vol. 13, No. 2, pp. 280-283.
TL;DR: Ziman et al. as mentioned in this paper published Prometheus Bound: Science in a Dynamic Steady State by John Ziman (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1994), pp. 157-159.
Abstract: (1995). Prometheus Bound: Science in a Dynamic Steady State by John Ziman (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1994), pp ix + 289, A$49.95, ISBN 0–521–43430–0. Prometheus: Vol. 13, No. 1, pp. 157-159.
TL;DR: Modelling in which the collection, processing and use of information is continuous is needed, and the information processes inWhich the regulator and firm participate must not be locked away in ‘black boxes’.
Abstract: If the broad purpose of regulation is to replicate the results of a competitive market, we need to be clear what are those results. It is a reflection of the difficulty of that task that competition has been given so many labels, ranging from perfect to managed; and can relate to products, processes, locations, firms, nations, technologies and systems. Modelling in which the collection, processing and use of information is continuous is needed. This approach has to be carried into the design of regulatory systems. In particular, the information processes in which the regulator and firm participate must not be locked away in ‘black boxes’. Learning, knowing and having information are complex matters, giving rise to lock-in and diversity, and affecting key concepts like technology, information, cost and profit.