Leyland Daf: A case of negative European integration

In February 1987 Daf, the privately owned Dutch truck maker, bought the British state-owned Leyland trucks and vans business. Almost five years to the day later, Leyland Daf went into liquidation. This report examines what went wrong and tells the story behind the 1987 deal. It will argue that the UK Government sold Leyland trucks to a parent company which had little to offer. This conclusion raises the crucial issues of how the British Government and the EC got us into this position and why both have done little to solve the regional problems they created.     

Monetary integration and the consistency of policy objectives in the European common market

Zusammenfassung Monet?re Integration und die Konsistenz wirtschaftspolitischer Ziele in der Europ?ischen Gemeinschaft. — In dieser Arbeit wird die M?glichkeit einer monet?ren Integration bei festen Wechselkursen in der Europ?ischen Gemeinschaft erneut untersucht. Im ersten Teil werden die Implikationen zwischenstaatlicher Unterschiede in den Transformations- und Pr?ferenzfunktionen bei ausgew?hlten Zielvariablen für die Wechselkursstabilit?t kurz diskutiert. Als Pr?ferenzfunktion werden die von der EWG ver?ffentlichten wirtschaftspolitischen Ziele zugrunde gelegt, w?hrend das von einem der Autoren entwickelte europ?ische makro-?konomische Modell verwendet wird, um die Transformationsfunktion abzuleiten. Die Simulationen mit Hilfe dieses Modells werden im zweiten Teil beschrieben und die Ergebnisse der Simulationen unter Einbeziehung der nationalen Ziele im dritten Teil erl?utert. Im vierten Teil wird die Konsistenz der wirtschaftspolitischen Ziele auf Gemeinschaftsebene untersucht. Im letzten Teil werden schlieβlich die Implikationen dieser Ergebnisse für die monet?re Integration Europas diskutiert.

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Résumé L’intégration monétaire et la consistance des objectifs politiques dans le Marché européen. — Le but de cet article est d’examiner encore une fois si une intégration monétaire peut être durable sous le régime des changes fixes dans le Marché commun européen. Dans la section I, on a discuté brèvement les implications des différences internationales dans les fonctions de ?transformation? et de ?préférence?, en ce qui concerne des variables politiques spécifiques, pour la stabilité des cours de change. La fonction de préférence est représentée par les objectifs politiques publiés par la Communauté Economique Européenne, pendant que la fonction de transformation est dérivée d’un modèle macro- économique au plan d’ Europe construit par un des auteurs. Les simulations à l’aide de ce modèle sont décrites dans la section II, pendant que la section III comprend les résultats des simulations des objectifs nationaux et la section IV examine la consistance des objectifs pour des valeurs particulières des variables politiques. Enfin, dans la section V, les implications des résultats pour l’intégration monétaire en Europe sont discutées brèvement.

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Resumen Integración monetaria y la consistencia de objetivos politicos en el mercado europeo. — En este articulo se vuelve a examinar la viabilidad de una integración monetaria con tipos de cambio fijos en el Mercado Común Europeo. En la primera sección, los autores discuten brevemente las implicaciones que tienen para la estabilidad cambiaria diferencias entre los paises miembros con respecto a las funciones de ?transformación? y de ?preferencia? de variables politicas seleccionadas. Se supone que la funci?n de preferencia viene representada por los objetivos politicos anunciados por la Comunidad Económica Europea, mientras que un modelo macroeconómico elaborado por unos de los autores sirve para derivar la funci?n de transformación. En la segunda sección del articulo se describen las simulaciones Uevadas a cabo mediante dicho modelo, en la tercera sección se presentan los resultados de las simulaciones con objetivos politicos nacionales, y en la cuarta sección se examina la consistencia de los objetivos para diferentes valores asignados a las variables politicas. En la quinta y ultima sección, los autores discuten brevemente las implicaciones de los resultados obtenidos para la integración monetaria europea.

     

Market integration and market efficiency: The case of 19th century Italy

This paper examines market integration in Italy in the 19th century, focusing on wheat. Wheat prices converged well before political Unification (1859-1861) but the process halted during the 1860s only to resume in the 1870s and 1880s. The first wave of integration was caused mainly by improvements in market efficiency while the second wave owed much to a reduction in transport costs.     

Making local labour markets work: A Scottish case study

With the launch of Employment Training (ET) in 1988 there has been increasing interest in providing training that is closely tied to the demands of the labour market. The establishment of ET came about because of a concern that unemployment was still very high at a time when large numbers of jobs were being created. Part of the explanation for this apparent paradox was that the unemployed lacked the motivation and skills to get jobs. The solution, as proposed by ET, was to provide counseling and training (Department of Employment, 1988). Insofar as this recognised that factors other than a lack of skills stopped the unemployed getting work it was to be welcomed. However there are other things that need to be taken account of if labour markets are to work effectively (Haughton and Peck, 1989). Many of these are outside of the control of the unemployed.     

Impact of nontraditional activities on scale and scope economies: A case study of Japanese regional banks

The recent financial deregulation in Japanese banking has enabled regional banks to engage in trust businesses. This paper examines the impact of such nontraditional banking activities on cost structure by measuring economies of scale and scope. A generalized translog cost function, which can take zero outputs into consideration, is employed to simultaneously investigate entrants and non-entrants. While ray scale economies are observed for trust businesses, product-specific scale economies are not. Further, cost complementarities are not observed in almost all the pairwise combinations of the products. Thus, entering into the trust business yields no cost reduction for Japanese regional banks.     

Developing a local retail strategy: A case study of Leicester

Retailing has experienced profound restructuring in recent years. The retail revolution has brought with it changes to employment practices and the organisation of retail businesses, the application of new technologies and shifts in the location of retailing activity, most notably through the growth of off-centre superstores. One consequence is that the retailing sector is now characterised by a particular set of problems which have a major impact on the retail workforce. This article uses evidence drawn from a study of issues concerning Leicester's retail sector to consider the need for, and the appropriate form of, sector-based strategies aimed at alleviating these problems in both Leicester and in other UK local economies.     

Supply response under market liberalisation: A case study of Malawian agriculture

In order to analyse the effects of policy reforms, output supply and factor demand responses to input and output prices for Malawian agriculture are estimated in this article in a multiple-output, multiple-input framework. The implications of various structural adjustment policies implemented in Malawi are analysed using the model results for their impact on the smallholder agricultural sector. The results of the analysis indicate that removal of fertiliser subsidy – a major component of market reform policies – does not substantially reduce the production of maize, the major staple food in Malawi. However, when implemented in appropriate sequence along with other output market liberalisation policies and increased investment in infrastructure, such a policy is likely to increase the productivity of smallholder agriculture.     

The determinants of sovereign risk premiums in the UK and the European government bond market: the impact of Brexit

International Economics and Economic Policy - This paper analyzes recent developments in the British and European government bond markets with reference to the UK’s decision to leave the...     

Globalization of agriculture and European integration: A deepening effect of the Uruguay round

Taking the effect of the agricultural liberalization promoted by the Uruguay Round of GATT negotiations on European integration as an example, this paper discusses whether the globalization process promotes or undermines regional integration. This paper suggests that the UR had a positive effect on further European integration. It did so by triggering the reform of EC's common agricultural policy, which had been the source of repeated budgetary crises of the EC. Consequently, the UR made money available for a more integrative project, i.e., redistributional policy in the form of structural funds. The assumption of redistributional function by the EC means that the EC expanded its supranational policy competency into an area that in the past belonged exclusively to state prerogatives. Therefore, as the UR was in part responsible for the CAP reform, it can be said that the UR contributed to the deepening of European integration. This is a case where globalism moves regionalism forward.     

Applying an alternative test of herding behavior: A case study of the Indian stock market

The paper presents an alternative approach to test herding behavior in the Indian equity market. In contrast to the conventional test methodologies, based on return dispersions among a group of securities, this paper uses symmetric properties of the cross-sectional return distribution to identify herding. Using this alternative approach, we find evidence of herding in the Indian equity market during the sample period which tends to be more pronounced during the 2007 crash. The paper also finds that the rate of increase in security return dispersion is relatively lower in the up market compared to down market days. This finding is contrary to the directional asymmetry documented by McQueen et al. (1996).     

Local economies and business networks re-visited. A case study of business and professional services in London

This article describes networks among business and professional services (BPS) firms in London, and deals with the relationship between the businesses interviewed and their locality. The article is based on empirical material derived from a large number of interviews with BPS firms in central London. It is noted that lateral links between firms are poor, relationships are better characterised as competitive rather than co-operative, and businesses tend to take little interest in the various support agencies. Although all the businesses interviewed placed great emphasis on the development of close, co-operative relationships with clients, markets are geographically diffuse. However, despite the weakness of localised, inter-firm links, businesses were able to identify a number of valuable and distinctive assets attached to their current location, which implies that the “local economy” continues to be important. The article finishes briefly with some implications for local economies and appropriate methods of business support.     

European Union enlargement: An historic milestone in the process of European integration

Ten European countries with economies in transition and two market economies are negotiating full membership with the European Union. This paper considers the economic dimension of the forthcoming enlargement of the European Union, especially on the characteristics of the economies in transition and on the economic implications of the enlargement for European Union agriculture. The transition of the central and eastern European countries from a centrally planned to a market economy, although already in progress for a decade, is far from complete. Uneven macroeconomic developments in the various countries can be attributed to some extent to their individual situation at the start of the transformation. However, they also reflect the varying extent to which institutional reform programs have been implemented in these countries.Distinguished Address presented at the Fifty-First International Atlantic Economic Conference, March 13–20, 2001, Athens, Greece.     

Fiscal stress in local government: A case study of the tri-cities in the Commonwealth of Virginia

Ability to raise sufficient revenue to satisfy expenditure needs is the most important concern in local government financing. Local governments under fiscal stress often need to dig deep into their tax base to generate enough financing because of inflexible revenue resources. This paper examines the factors that determine the level of tax effort, particularly the influences of fiscal stress on the tax effort of three adjacent small cities in Virginia. An ordinary least squared model was formulated for this purpose. Our findings indicate that, together with fiscal stress, retail sales, state aid, the joint effect of unemployment and welfare expenditures are important factors in predicting the tax effort. The difference in response among the cities in question is also established as a result of the analysis.     

The European social fund and British labour market policies — the unfulfilled local authority dimension

This article describes and analyses the contribution made by the European Social Fund to training and employment initiatives in Britain. It argues that the full potential of the ESF for an innovative exchange of international experience is held back by central government's decision to channel most ESF money through the MSC.     

The determinants of immigration-policy preferences in advanced economies: A cross-country study

This paper employs survey data to examine the determinants of immigration-policy preferences among ten advanced economies. Ordered probit specifications suggest that skill level is a robust determinant of immigration-policy preferences and that less-skilled workers are more likely to express a preference for policies that restrict immigration. The results also suggest that older individuals, members of trade unions, and those who classify their political ideology as conservative are more likely to favor limiting immigration while non-citizens are less likely to favor such policies. Individual country-level regression results vary, in particular with regard to the influence of trade union member-ship, which is a robust determinant of immigration-policy preferences for both measures of skill in only a subset of nations.     

我国A股、B股市场并轨的前景探析

B股市场的前途问题是一个困扰市场参与者的主要问题,而前途的不明朗源于B股市场定位的困惑和功能失调。筹资功能方面,1991～2004年12月B股市场通过股票发行总计筹资50.03亿美元,通过配股筹资3.27亿美元,而同期A股市场对应的数据是5695.7亿元和2276.74亿元,而且最近3年B股市场的