The graduation thesis surveys present treatment of intellectual property rights and their protection in WTO. The thesis briefly characterizes WTO and describes the development of protection of intellectual property before the TRIPS agreement was concluded. Furthermore, the thesis focuses on the TRIPS agreement in detail because it is the most important instrument of protection of intellectual property rights at present. The thesis critically evaluates the regulation of particular legal institutes in TRIPS agreement and describes disputes of WTO member states in the relevant field. At the end of the thesis there is an outline of means for execution of the rights, present problems in the particular field and possible future development of the regulation.

A partir da segunda metade da década de noventa, após a fase de reestruturação e modernização da produção agrícola, as questões econômicas pertinentes aos conflitos de terra no Brasil ganharam maior grau de complexidade em virtude de significativas mudanças institucionais e das incertezas sobre os direitos de propriedade; geradas com o aumento das disputas entre proprietários de terras, posseiros, organizações de movimentos sociais, indígenas, quilombolas, ambientalistas e organismos governamentais. Dentro desse contexto sócio-econômico, a presente pesquisa objetivou investigar um tipo específico de conflito fundiário referente ao processo de invasões (ocupações) de terras em propriedades rurais, realizadas por organizações de movimentos sociais. A literatura empírica sobre a relação econômica entre direitos de propriedade e investimento apresenta uma diversidade de resultados e apontamentos que motivaram a investigação do problema no caso das disputas de terra no Estado do Paraná. O atual conflito paranaense tem como importante característica as disputas judiciais entre produtores rurais e movimentos sociais, no qual, os proprietários rurais questionam a legalidade das invasões quanto ao seu caráter reivindicatório pela reforma agrária, e pleiteiam o cumprimento imediato dos mandados de reintegração de posse quando da invasão de terra. Por parte dos movimentos, as invasões de terras tornaram-se o principal mecanismo de \"pressão\" sobre o Instituto Nacional de Colonização e Reforma Agrária (INCRA), para a execução dos processos de desapropriação e assentamentos. Tendo como marco institucional a Medida Provisória nº2027-38/2000 (conhecida como lei \"anti-invasão\"), mais o relatório de propriedades invadidas da Federação de Agricultura do Estado do Paraná (FAEP), foi desenvolvida uma pesquisa empírica junto aos produtores rurais nas principais áreas de conflitos de terras; compreendendo as invasões ocorridas entre 2000 e 2006. Com base na fundamentação da Nova Economia Institucional e na análise dos resultados da literatura empírica sobre direitos de propriedade de terra e investimentos privados, a presente pesquisa analisou a relação entre o a variável \"tempo de invasão\" (proxy para a insegurança do direito de propriedade) e \"nível de produtividade da terra\" (proxy para o investimento), comparando diferentes grupos de produtores e sua produtividade antes e depois da invasão. Como resultado da análise descritiva dos dados primários, a presente pesquisa estabeleceu um conjunto de observações sobre: (i) as propriedades invadidas; (ii) as invasões de terra; (iii) os processos judiciais; e (iv) os efeitos das invasões sobre os investimentos na produção. Como principais resultados, a pesquisa apontou para as seguintes considerações: o tempo de invasão da terra afetou, especialmente, os investimentos das propriedades pecuaristas e invadidas acima de 120 dias (longo prazo de invasão). No caso das propriedades com tempo inferior a 60 dias de invasão (curto prazo), o resultado mais freqüente foi a manutenção dos investimentos na produção; contudo, em casos que ocorreram mais de uma invasão na mesma propriedade, houve queda da produtividade mesmo com um tempo curto de invasão. Para o grupo dos proprietários com tempo de invasão de 60 a 120 dias (médio prazo), os resultados sobre os investimentos foram variados. / From the second half of the nineties after the phase of restructuring and modernization of agricultural production, the economic issues relevant to conflicts of land in Brazil won greater degree of complexity because of significant institutional changes and uncertainties about the property rights generated with the increase of disputes between owners of land, squatters, social movements organizations, indigenous, Afro-Brazilian (\"quilombolas\"), environmentalists and government. In this socio-economic context this research objectives investigate a specific conflict type pertaining to the process of land invasions (occupation) of land properties held by organizations of social movements. The empirical literature about economic relationship between property rights and investment presents a variety of results and notes that led to the investigation of the problem in the case of disputes of land in the state of Paraná. The current Paraná\'s conflict has important feature as the legal disputes between farmers and movements in which the landowners questioned the legality of the claim invasion for agrarian reform and compliance with the immediate mandate of reinstatement of possession when invasion of land. For part of the movement the invasions of land have become the main mechanism of \"pressure\" on the National Institute of Colonization and Agrarian Reform (NICAR) to the implementation of procedures for the expropriation and settlements. With New Institutional Economics framework and analyze of the Provisional Measure 2027-38 of 2000 (known as \"anti-invasion\" law), plus the report of properties raided the Agricultural Federation of the state of Paraná (AFSP) a survey was developed to empirically with farmers the main areas of conflict of land; including invasions occurred between 2000 and 2006. Based on the reasoning of the New Institutional Economics and the analysis of the results of the empirical literature on the land property rights and private investments, this research examined the relationship between the variable \"time of invasion\" (proxy for the uncertainty of property) and \"level of productivity of the land\" (proxy for investment), comparing different groups of producers and their productivity before and after the invasion. As a result of the descriptive analysis of the primary data, this research has established a set of comments on: (i) the properties invaded; (ii) the invasions of land; (iii) legal proceedings; and (iv) the effects of the invasion on investment in production. The main results, the research pointed to the following considerations: the time of invasion of the land affected, in particular, investment properties and pastoralists invaded over 120 days (longterm invasion). In the case of properties with time less than 60 days of invasion (short-term), the result was more frequent maintenance of investment in production. However, in cases that occurred over an invasion on the same property, the result of productivity was negative even with a short time of invasion. For the group of owners with time of invasion of 60 to 120 days (medium term), the results of the investments have been varied.

This thesis intends to be a contribution both to the sociological analysis of law and to the analysis of regulatory approaches of biodiversity conservation. In particular, and on the one hand, I intend to contribute to a better understanding of the regulatory trilemma of ecosystems conservation in the context of the local implementation of the Convention on Biological Diversity (the ´CBD´). Specifically, I examine how local legal systems utilize traditional regulatory instruments, and particularly traditional property rights, in order to implement the ecosystems conservation -or in-situ conservation- measures of the CBD. On the other hand, I intend to develop an understanding of the reflexive or non-exclusionary nature of law, on the basis of the general theory of society of Niklas Luhmann. This will entail the development of an understanding of the reflexive form of law, which in turn will, first, allow us to go beyond the Weberian dichotomy between form and substance and, second, allow us to assess the varying degrees of social reflexivity –or reflexive capacity- of different legal forms. These theoretical developments will then be combined with Gunther Teubner´s post-regulatory approach known as reflexive law, which will allow us to explore general mechanisms for enhancing mutual observation and interference between law and society that, in turn, will be expressed on new forms of law that should have a higher reflexive capacity to tackle the limits of regulatory law. Furthermore, in the context of my analysis of reflexive law, I will propose an understanding of Teubner´s idea of interference –and of the encompassing idea of direct contact between law and society- by reference to Maturana´s and Hejl´s ideas on the relational and social domain, and to Bankowsky’s notion of transitional spaces, that should allow observing or better observing the interactions between law and different spheres of society. These theoretical understandings will allow me to better analyse the regulatory trilemma of ecosystems conservation and, particularly, better assess the limitations of the legal form of traditional property rights as a regulatory instrument for ecosystem´s conservation. This will show that these property rights are predominantly reflexive to the observations of the economic sphere but not to the observations of other social spheres. This analysis and critique will be mainly focused on ownership but, as will be shown, it will also apply to other traditional property rights such as easements and servitudes. Finally, it will be on the basis of all these understandings and considerations that I will propose and assess the creation of a new property right - the conservation property right- as a reflexive law mechanism that should allow broader social interaction amongst different spheres of society for the purpose of better tackling the regulatory trilemma of ecosystems conservation.

As cooperativas são organizações de propriedade coletiva sem finalidade de lucro. Na ótica do cooperado podem ser vistas como um investimento que possui um custo imediato, o valor da quota, e a expectativa de retorno futuro. Os valores das quotas podem apresentar significativas divergências quanto ao seu montante, que podem estar associados a forma que se dá relação entre cooperados e cooperativa com base no direito de propriedade oriundo desta relação e à perspectiva do cooperado frente sua participação nesta organização. Como as demais entidades, o investimento em capital próprio garante aos associados os direitos de propriedades advindos dessa aquisição. Segundo Costa (2010), a aquisição de determinado bem ou direito configura-se como aquisição de propriedade quando apresentar simultaneamente os dois direitos que esta lhe confere: o direito de controle e o direito ao resíduo. Entretanto, nas sociedades cooperativa tais direitos de propriedades são vagamente definidos, podendo assim haver um desestímulo do cooperado de investir nessa sociedade. Neste panorama, se estabelece a seguinte pergunta relevante: o valor a ser aportado na cooperativa reflete a aquisição dos direitos de propriedade? O estudo objetiva analisar a participação em organizações econômicas de propriedade coletiva sem finalidade de lucro com o objetivo de aquisição da propriedade tradicional, conforme os direitos elencados. Para se alcançar o objetivo proposto foi aplicado o modelo de Fluxo de Caixa Livre da Empresa (FCLE) para as cooperativas de crédito do Estado de São Paulo referente as informações financeiras de 2006 a 2014. O valor resultante do valuation foi divido pelo número de cooperados obtendo-se o valor de investimento realizado por cada indivíduo. Este resultado foi comparado estatisticamente com o valor mínimo de investimento exigido pelas sociedades cooperativas pelo Teste t de comparação de média. Os resultados indicam que o valor do investimento realizado nas cooperativas é estatisticamente menor que o valor da propriedade adquirida, resultante do valuation. Tal resultado aponta que a aquisição pode corresponder não a todos os direitos de propriedades que as quotas conferem. / Credit unions are nonprofit societies and its ownership is collective, thus its members have only one party of the property rights. They become owners if acquire a share of equity capital. In terms of the financial theory, it represents an investment with an immediate cost. For instance, the value paid by share. However, there are benefits also represented as expected future return. The share value might diverge significantly among different co-ops, because it can be related with total of members in the society, organizational structure and characteristics of the property rights. Additionally, member\'s perspective of his participation can affect the share value indeed. Like other companies, the share of equity acquisition originates two ownership rights: the control of organization and its free cash flow. According to the theory, in co-ops the property rights are vaguely defined. Then, it may affect the availability of the member to invest on the society. In this paper, we investigate the value paid by members to become owners and the rights they acquired with this investment. Our goal was check out if the equity price was related with the traditional rights of ownership or includes the value of using the company. To reach the goal, we employed the Free Cash Flow Equity Method estimation in order to estimate the value of credit union for owners, if the co-op were sold. We calculate the value per member by the ratio of the valuation value by the membership. This value was compared with price of the share for new members become owners. The sample includes Brazilian credit union using financial information of 2006 to 2014. The results showed that the value of the investment done on the cooperatives is statistically smaller than the acquired properties value resultant of valuation. Our findings show that the equity investment can correspond not to all properties rights referred by the equity shares. Apparently, the control right in these organizations is not the main purpose to become an owner, thus these individuals can become members aiming to use the cooperatives when this negotiation is beneficial, in other words, the use option application.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Boston University / PLEASE NOTE: Boston University Libraries did not receive an Authorization To Manage form for this thesis or dissertation. It is therefore not openly accessible, though it may be available by request. If you are the author or principal advisor of this work and would like to request open access for it, please contact us at open-help@bu.edu. Thank you. / A frequent discussion in the Political Economy literature is that of the directionality in the relationship between economic and political variables. Are our society's ideas, political orientation, concepts of morality and values conditioned by our economic development or, on the contrary, are our ideas, values and worldview what determine our political and economic attitudes, and, thereby, our economic performance and political development? This thesis comprises two parallel projects that address these two different approaches. The first project studies the effect of having land or housing property rights on the decisions of households' members of whether or not to participate in civil society organizations; I develop this idea in a paper called "Civil Society and Land Property Rights: Evidence From Nicaragua". For doing this I use household level panel data for the years 1998, 2001 and 2005. I conclude that contrary to what happens in more developed countries, in developing societies a household receiving formal property rights reduces the incentives to participate in civil society. The second project is aimed at studying the relationship between religion and welfare states: given the different possibilities available in terms of data sources and methodologies, this project is integrated by two papers. In the first one. "Religion, Political Attitudes and Welfare States" I use data from the World Values Survey in order to study the effect of individual religiosity on attitudes towards the welfare state and, thus, its aggregate impact on welfare state policies. In the second paper of this project, "Political Elites, Religion and Welfare States in Latin America" I continue studying this relationship but instead of using data from ordinary citizens I focus on the study of legislators in Latin America. I combine quantitative and qualitative data and show that more religious legislators have less progressive attitudes towards the welfare state. Similarly. I find important differences across religions in the attitudes of their members towards the relationship of religion wits state, politics, society and the economy. / 2031-01-01

As cooperativas são organizações de propriedade coletiva sem finalidade de lucro. Na ótica do cooperado podem ser vistas como um investimento que possui um custo imediato, o valor da quota, e a expectativa de retorno futuro. Os valores das quotas podem apresentar significativas divergências quanto ao seu montante, que podem estar associados a forma que se dá relação entre cooperados e cooperativa com base no direito de propriedade oriundo desta relação e à perspectiva do cooperado frente sua participação nesta organização. Como as demais entidades, o investimento em capital próprio garante aos associados os direitos de propriedades advindos dessa aquisição. Segundo Costa (2010), a aquisição de determinado bem ou direito configura-se como aquisição de propriedade quando apresentar simultaneamente os dois direitos que esta lhe confere: o direito de controle e o direito ao resíduo. Entretanto, nas sociedades cooperativa tais direitos de propriedades são vagamente definidos, podendo assim haver um desestímulo do cooperado de investir nessa sociedade. Neste panorama, se estabelece a seguinte pergunta relevante: o valor a ser aportado na cooperativa reflete a aquisição dos direitos de propriedade? O estudo objetiva analisar a participação em organizações econômicas de propriedade coletiva sem finalidade de lucro com o objetivo de aquisição da propriedade tradicional, conforme os direitos elencados. Para se alcançar o objetivo proposto foi aplicado o modelo de Fluxo de Caixa Livre da Empresa (FCLE) para as cooperativas de crédito do Estado de São Paulo referente as informações financeiras de 2006 a 2014. O valor resultante do valuation foi divido pelo número de cooperados obtendo-se o valor de investimento realizado por cada indivíduo. Este resultado foi comparado estatisticamente com o valor mínimo de investimento exigido pelas sociedades cooperativas pelo Teste t de comparação de média. Os resultados indicam que o valor do investimento realizado nas cooperativas é estatisticamente menor que o valor da propriedade adquirida, resultante do valuation. Tal resultado aponta que a aquisição pode corresponder não a todos os direitos de propriedades que as quotas conferem. / Credit unions are nonprofit societies and its ownership is collective, thus its members have only one party of the property rights. They become owners if acquire a share of equity capital. In terms of the financial theory, it represents an investment with an immediate cost. For instance, the value paid by share. However, there are benefits also represented as expected future return. The share value might diverge significantly among different co-ops, because it can be related with total of members in the society, organizational structure and characteristics of the property rights. Additionally, member\'s perspective of his participation can affect the share value indeed. Like other companies, the share of equity acquisition originates two ownership rights: the control of organization and its free cash flow. According to the theory, in co-ops the property rights are vaguely defined. Then, it may affect the availability of the member to invest on the society. In this paper, we investigate the value paid by members to become owners and the rights they acquired with this investment. Our goal was check out if the equity price was related with the traditional rights of ownership or includes the value of using the company. To reach the goal, we employed the Free Cash Flow Equity Method estimation in order to estimate the value of credit union for owners, if the co-op were sold. We calculate the value per member by the ratio of the valuation value by the membership. This value was compared with price of the share for new members become owners. The sample includes Brazilian credit union using financial information of 2006 to 2014. The results showed that the value of the investment done on the cooperatives is statistically smaller than the acquired properties value resultant of valuation. Our findings show that the equity investment can correspond not to all properties rights referred by the equity shares. Apparently, the control right in these organizations is not the main purpose to become an owner, thus these individuals can become members aiming to use the cooperatives when this negotiation is beneficial, in other words, the use option application.

For the past two decades, intellectual property law has been the fastest growing and most dynamic field in Indonesia. But, despite impressive and extensive legal reform conducted by the Indonesian government in the area, intellectual property laws remain very difficult to enforce. Ignorance of intellectual property law is widespread within the country and protection of intellectual property rights is both practically and legally weak.

In this paper a comparative exploration of the potential for foreign investment and real inflow to Russia and Ukraine are examined. The analysis showed that primarily both countries enjoyed significant comparative advantages in attracting foreign capital. Since the foundation of independent states in 1992 attractiveness began to diverge dramatically. This difference is clearly explained by the determination of the Russian government to reform the economy earlier than the Ukrainian government. The transition to a market economy is closely connected with the development of a favorable investment climate in both countries. It includes the foundation of a stable system of property rights and a conducive legal environment.

In a world of increasing environmental awareness and activism, is it economically advantageous for a forestry resource firm to be proactive in the integration of community stakeholders desires into the business operations? To what degree, and in what form, does the firm include the local community as a stakeholder? What are the economic consequences to the firm from taking various stances in relationship to the community and the resulting allocation of forest resources to the firm? The objective of this research is to test the hypothesis that large industrial resource companies should decentralize more of the production process to the communities which they draw the resource from as a means of sustaining their profitability within a changing sociopolitical climate of community resource ownership. The Province of Saskatchewan and more specifically northwest Saskatchewan including the towns of Meadow Lake, Beauval, Green Lake, and north are the geographic focus of this study. This research examines the economic feasibility of decentralizing the Oriented Strand Board (OSB) feedstock manufacturing process to the remote communities where the primary resource is extracted. A game-theoretic approach is used to assess the long-run gain or cost of co-operating with the community and installing a remote stranding facility instead of hauling the unprocessed fiber to a centrally located Oriented Strand Board (OSB) plant. There are no technical reasons for lack of implementation of remote stranding facilities in North America. Current practices relate to the economics of centralization and to the ownership/control of the resource. This research shows that the major forestry firms long-term profitability could improve, or diminish less, with a remote stranding plant due to a stabilized wood-supply to the OSB plant. The installation of the remote strander reduces the communitys incentive to seeking alternative allocation, through judicial and/or legal means, for the wood fiber that it deems to be its property. Based on this research, the forestry resource firm needs to examine the ability of the community to process the regional wood fiber instead of the firm. The community development corporation can empower itself through the acquisition of the technical expertise and financial backing to process some of the wood fiber from the region. This would increase their bargaining credibility as a viable threat to the firm, and thus induce co-operation from the resource firm in pursuing community economic development. If they have the capabilities to follow through on alternative processing, the forestry firm should view the community as having a high salience to their long-term profitability.

In a world of increasing environmental awareness and activism, is it economically advantageous for a forestry resource firm to be proactive in the integration of community stakeholders desires into the business operations? To what degree, and in what form, does the firm include the local community as a stakeholder? What are the economic consequences to the firm from taking various stances in relationship to the community and the resulting allocation of forest resources to the firm? The objective of this research is to test the hypothesis that large industrial resource companies should decentralize more of the production process to the communities which they draw the resource from as a means of sustaining their profitability within a changing sociopolitical climate of community resource ownership. The Province of Saskatchewan and more specifically northwest Saskatchewan including the towns of Meadow Lake, Beauval, Green Lake, and north are the geographic focus of this study. This research examines the economic feasibility of decentralizing the Oriented Strand Board (OSB) feedstock manufacturing process to the remote communities where the primary resource is extracted. A game-theoretic approach is used to assess the long-run gain or cost of co-operating with the community and installing a remote stranding facility instead of hauling the unprocessed fiber to a centrally located Oriented Strand Board (OSB) plant. There are no technical reasons for lack of implementation of remote stranding facilities in North America. Current practices relate to the economics of centralization and to the ownership/control of the resource. This research shows that the major forestry firms long-term profitability could improve, or diminish less, with a remote stranding plant due to a stabilized wood-supply to the OSB plant. The installation of the remote strander reduces the communitys incentive to seeking alternative allocation, through judicial and/or legal means, for the wood fiber that it deems to be its property. Based on this research, the forestry resource firm needs to examine the ability of the community to process the regional wood fiber instead of the firm. The community development corporation can empower itself through the acquisition of the technical expertise and financial backing to process some of the wood fiber from the region. This would increase their bargaining credibility as a viable threat to the firm, and thus induce co-operation from the resource firm in pursuing community economic development. If they have the capabilities to follow through on alternative processing, the forestry firm should view the community as having a high salience to their long-term profitability.