Periculum maris come il valore contrattuale nel diritto romano

For persons who wanted to invest their resources in international commerce, the necessity of a sea voyage significantly increased the risk connected to this venture. Thus the contracts, which took into account the risk related to navigation, constituted under Roman law a special category of contracts, as they modified standard contracts such as a loan or a partnership contract. In the contract of maritime loan the fact that the creditor assumed the risk of losing money in case the condition si salva navis pervenerit was not fulfilled and in exchange could claim high interest to compensate him for such risk transforms this contract into an instrument used for the joint gain of profits. The classical scheme, in which all partners were obliged to share both profits and losses was modified by a partnership contract, in which a partner whose contribution involved exclusively undertaking risky sea voyages was exempt from bearing losses. This pactum made it possible to treat pecuniary contributions and in-kind contributions as equivalent in value. This prevented a situation in which the partner whose sole contribution involved services, in spite of due performance of his obligations, would be liable to repay a part of the loss to the partner who brought capital, if the activity of the partnership resulted in the loss. A typical example, referred to by jurists, of a situation in which services performed by a partner justified discharging him from participating in the loss, was the case in which one of the socii financed the purchase of goods to be subsequently sold with profit in another port, while the other one carried out this venture risking his life during the sea voyage. Therefore, undoubtedly, services entailing a dangerous sea voyage constituted a good example of a partnership, in which the value of a contribution of opera was even greater than the value of the capital invested, and this justified releasing one of the partners from participation in the loss. Therefore, the risk related to navigation, and more specifically the willingness to assume it, starts to be considered as having a certain economic and market value. This value constitutes a special periculi pretium, that is to be taken into consideration in a contract relationship. The acknowledgement by Roman jurists that the willingness to assume the risk connected with certain types of business constituted an economic value, means that the importance of such factors as the partner’s efficiency, resourcefulness, or willingness to embark on a risky activity (in most cases crucial for a success of an enterprise) – was fully appreciated.

How Should the WTO Launch and Negotiate a Future Round?

If WTO Members wish to launch a new round to follow Doha, setting the agenda will require a complex negotiation as in the past, however Doha ends. To reduce the serious information problems they face and prepare the way, advocates should commission an independent research team to produce a comprehensive negotiation analysis before they decide to move further. Reaching an agreement on an agenda will depend on the procedural rules that apply in the agenda negotiation and the subsequent Round. They should consider four rules that seem legitimate today and most likely to help Members find a joint-gain agenda. Reaching an agenda agreement could also depend in part on decisions by WTO chairs during this negotiation. Experience illustrates the potentials and possible pitfalls for them to avoid.

Joint Gain/Phase and Mutual Coupling Array Calibration Technique with Single Calibrating Source

An iterative-based method for joint gain/phase and mutual coupling array calibration is proposed in this paper. It estimates the array gain/phase and mutual coupling coefficients with a set of simultaneous equations formed by using the beam pattern property of the array. Only one calibrating source with known direction is requiblue to obtain the unique estimate. The effectiveness of this approach is illustrated by simulation results and by experimental data collected with an antenna array operating in high-frequency radio band.

Pasta Wars

PASTA WARS is a four-party negotiation/conflict simulation, in which participants must decide recurrently whether to adopt a cooperative stance or a competitive strategy toward one another. Participants are formed into four groups, each of which manages a flour mill that is attempting to sell its produce to a single purchaser, the local pasta restaurant, over a series of rounds. Each mill's profitability is dependent not only on its own manufacturing strategy but also on that of the three other mills. In this way, they are subtly placed in an iterated four-way Prisoner's Dilemma, and they must maneuver, in an environment of limited communication, to develop relationships with each other and to build trust as a means of enabling personal and joint gain.