Principal-Agent Theory and the World Trade Organization: Complex Agency and ‘Missing Delegation’

This paper analyses the World Trade Organization within a principal-agent framework. The concept of complex agency is introduced to focus on the variety of actors that comprise an international organization. Special attention is paid to the relationship between contracting parties’ representatives and the Secretariat. In the empirical part, the paper analyses the role of the Secretariat in assisting negotiations and presents evidence of declining influence. It is shown how principal-agent theory can contribute to addressing this ‘puzzle of missing delegation’. The paper concludes with a cautionary note as to the ‘location’ of international organizations’ emerging pathologies and calls for additional research to address the relationship between material and social sources to explain behaviour of the key actors within the complex agency.

“50+L2”: una formula utile dopo il pensionamento?

In diesem Artikel möchten wir anhand eigener Untersuchungen und der Präsentation bereits vorhandener Studien einerseits einen Einblick in die Welt der 50+ Sprachkurse geben und andererseits mögliche Lösungen für eine an das Zielpublikum angepasste Didaktik vorstellen. Bei den erforschten Sprachkursen handelt es sich um drei unterschiedliche Kurstypen mit den dazugehörigen Kursteilnehmertypologien. Das erste Forschungsfeld umfasst Sprachkurse, die von der Berner Volkshochschule angeboten und teilweise von Personen im Alter von 50 und älter besucht werden. Zum zweiten Kurstyp gehören solche Kurse, die im Ausland besucht werden. Im vorliegenden Fall ein Italienischkurs in Sizilien mit einem expliziten Freizeitprogramm für Personen ab 50. Das dritte Untersuchungsfeld betrifft einen etwas anderen Typ von Kursteilnehmern, da es sich um einen Deutschkurs für pensionierte italienische MigrantInnen in Bern handelt. Die abschliessenden Vorschläge für eine an die älteren Kursteilnehmer angepasste Didaktik sollen dabei nicht als allgemeingültige Rezepte betrachtet werden, sondern als erste Anregungspunkte.

Effects of colostrum versus formula feeding on hepatic glucocorticoid and α1- and β2-adrenergic receptors in neonatal calves and their effect on glucose and lipid metabolism

Neonatal energy metabolism in calves has to adapt to extrauterine life and depends on colostrum feeding. The adrenergic and glucocorticoid systems are involved in postnatal maturation of pathways related to energy metabolism and calves show elevated plasma concentrations of cortisol and catecholamines during perinatal life. We tested the hypothesis that hepatic glucocorticoid receptors (GR) and α₁- and β₂-adrenergic receptors (AR) in neonatal calves are involved in adaptation of postnatal energy metabolism and that respective binding capacities depend on colostrum feeding. Calves were fed colostrum (CF; n=7) or a milk-based formula (FF; n=7) with similar nutrient content up to d 4 of life. Blood samples were taken daily before feeding and 2h after feeding on d 4 of life to measure metabolites and hormones related to energy metabolism in blood plasma. Liver tissue was obtained 2 h after feeding on d 4 to measure hepatic fat content and binding capacity of AR and GR. Maximal binding capacity and binding affinity were calculated by saturation binding assays using [(3)H]-prazosin and [(3)H]-CGP-12177 for determination of α₁- and β₂-AR and [(3)H]-dexamethasone for determination of GR in liver. Additional liver samples were taken to measure mRNA abundance of AR and GR, and of key enzymes related to hepatic glucose and lipid metabolism. Plasma concentrations of albumin, triacylglycerides, insulin-like growth factor I, leptin, and thyroid hormones changed until d 4 and all these variables except leptin and thyroid hormones responded to feed intake on d 4. Diet effects were determined for albumin, insulin-like growth factor I, leptin, and thyroid hormones. Binding capacity for GR was greater and for α₁-AR tended to be greater in CF than in FF calves. Binding affinities were in the same range for each receptor type. Gene expression of α₁-AR (ADRA1) tended to be lower in CF than FF calves. Binding capacity of GR was related to parameters of glucose and lipid metabolism, whereas β₂-AR binding capacity was negatively associated with glucose metabolism. In conclusion, our results indicate a dependence of GR and α₁-AR on milk feeding immediately after birth and point to an involvement of hepatic GR and AR in postnatal adaptation of glucose and lipid metabolism in calves.

Eigenvalue estimates for non-selfadjoint Dirac operators on the real line

We show that the non-embedded eigenvalues of the Dirac operator on the real line with complex mass and non-Hermitian potential V lie in the disjoint union of two disks, provided that the L1-norm of V is bounded from above by the speed of light times the reduced Planck constant. The result is sharp; moreover, the analogous sharp result for the Schrödinger operator, originally proved by Abramov, Aslanyan and Davies, emerges in the nonrelativistic limit. For massless Dirac operators, the condition on V implies the absence of non-real eigenvalues. Our results are further generalized to potentials with slower decay at infinity. As an application, we determine bounds on resonances and embedded eigenvalues of Dirac operators with Hermitian dilation-analytic potentials.