ITALIAN STATE-OWNED HOLDINGS,PRIVATIZATION AND THE SINGLE MARKET*

ABSTRACT ** ** Résumé en fin d'article; Zusammenfassung am Ende des Artikels; resúmen al fin del artículo.
: Italy's state industry is in a strategic transition, the result of which was not foreseen in the reforms approved by Parliament in the 1990s. Privatization pressures and opposite trends aimed at rejuvenating the state-owned holdings (the major ones being Iri and Eni) coexist in the Italian mixed economy. However, in the absence of a clear strategic intent, the functions of Iri and Eni are destined to whither away, in spite of the success achieved by them in both national and international markets. New pressures are menacing public enterprises. The attitudes of the European Commission, the trends of the European Union's industrial policy, and the drive towards the construction of a single market challenge the competitive skills of Iri and Eni, which in 1992 became joint stock companies.     

THE EFFECTS OF ENVIRONMENTAL TAXES An empirical study of water and solid waste levies in Flanders*

ABSTRACT ** ** Résumé en fin d'article; Zusammenfassung am Ende des Artikels; resúmen al fin del artículo.
: Environmental problems are considered by the majority of economic agents as important factors in making public policy. As a result, economic and market-integrated instruments are increasingly being used as alternatives to traditional environmental policy instruments. This article aims to determine the actual effect of environmental taxes on pollution levels. In particular, a case study of Flemish environmental taxes on water and solid waste pollution is reported. A quantitative model for testing the actual effectiveness of environmental taxes is developed, based on similar studies that analysed Dutch environmental policy. The conclusions of this analysis are extended with a qualitative analysis of information provided by in-depth interviews. Data-driven empirical research of the Flemish situation does not confirm the expected direct relationship between an increase in taxation and a decrease in pollution. In general, industrial firms do not consider the present taxation system a legitimate one for changing their polluting activities. As a result, the greening’of management is limited and environmental taxes are considered by the majority of firms as a mere business taxation rather than a system to create a switch from polluting to non-polluting behaviour.     

THE FUTURE OF PUBLIC ENTERPRISES: PERSPECTIVES FROM THE CANADIAN EXPERIENCE

ABSTRACT: Public enterprises have been an integral part of the involvement of the state in the economy for most of the 20th century. After 1980, privatization has been the dominant trend until the 2008–2010 economic crisis when new nationalizations happened. Ownership is only an element of a complex system of relations between a public enterprise and its institutional environment where the role of the board of directors, the mechanisms of coordination, the role of senior civil servants, etc. come to play. Using the Canadian experience with public enterprises, we suggest in this article that public enterprises could be interesting economic policy instruments in the future as in the past if such an economic policy exists. In other words, privatization did not solve the control issue over many large enterprises. Improved corporate governance should be considered. This article aims at improving the understanding of how by focusing on various aspects of the governance of public enterprises on their potential use and work. In Canada, public enterprises have been used to face the recent global crisis but they also come from a long tradition of intervention in the economy, a tradition closer to the European than the American. After reviewing recent developments in their governance, paths for future research are proposed.     

THE GERMAN POSTAL REFORM OF 1994*

ABSTRACT ** ** Résumé en fin d'article; Zusammenfassung am Ende des Artikels; resúmen al fin del artículo.
: In 1994 the Deutsche Bundespost, Deutsche Bundespost Telekom, Postdienst and Postbank were transformed into three stock companies. This so-called Postal Reform II required an amendment to German Basic Law as well as new laws, which have been condensed in the‘Post and Telecommunications Reorganization Act’of 14 September 1994. This paper reviews the regulations concerning –- among others —the amendments to the Basic Law, the presentation of the stock companies, the minister Post and Telecommunications, the agency, the regulation structure and the personnel.     

THE ECONOMICS OF THE NON-DISTRIBUTION CONSTRAINT: A CRITICAL REAPPRAISAL

ABSTRACT ** ** Résumé en fin d'article; Zusammenfassung am Ende des Artikels; resumen al fin del artículo.
: This paper re‐examines the non‐distribution constraint as a key structural feature of non‐profit organization. It argues that its traditional understanding as a trustworthiness‐enhancing device is incomplete. This paper shows that the non‐distribution constraint is also a reflection of the directly utility‐enhancing character of involvement in non‐profit firms for their key stakeholders. This alternative explanation allows one to solve the central puzzle of trustworthiness theory: why doesn't the non‐distribution constraint destroy entrepreneurial motivation? Additionally, it helps one to understand the role of the non‐distribution constraint in economic theories of non‐profit organization that do not rely on trustworthiness theory. Finally, it enables one to logically integrate the different economic theories of non‐profit organization.     

Bargaining Credibility and the Limits to Within‐firm Pensions

Abstract ** ** Résumé en fin d’article; Zusammenfassung am Ende des Artikels; resúmen al fin del artículo. : A simple bargaining model highlights the role of commitment to a low‐risk investment policy for firms which offer within‐house pension and health insurance schemes. The roles of this commitment level plus bargaining power, and the ability of a failing firm to misappropriate pensions funds, are studied and their influence on the equilibrium pension determined.     

Imposing Capital Controls on Credit Unions: An Analysis of Regulatory Intervention in Australia

Abstract ** ** Résumé en fin d’article; Zusammenfassung am Ende des Artikels; resumen al fin del artículo.
: What impacts would minimum capital requirements have on mutual institutions lacking the ability to raise equity capital? Can the response of credit unions to capital controls be explained by internal member bonding? The imposition of capital controls on credit unions by the Australian Financial Institutions Commission is studied as a Box‐Tiao time series quasi‐experiment. Time series intervention and trend analyses are performed on a sample of 150 credit unions over the period 1987 to 1997, together with cross‐sectional regressions of the estimated responses. The results demonstrate that the capital controls had a significant impact on credit union behavior. Consistent with theoretical expectations, the response of individual credit unions is found to be a function of initial capital levels and internal member bonding.     

MEASURING QUANTITY‐QUALITY TRADE‐OFFS IN REGULATION: THE BRAZILIAN FREIGHT RAILWAYS CASE*

ABSTRACT ** ** Résumé en fin d'article; Zusammenfassung am Ende des Artikels; resumen al fin del artículo.
: The quantity vs. quality trade‐offs in network industries are well known from the theoretical literature and have been the subject of many empirical assessments, although mostly for the telecoms and energy sectors. The purpose of this paper is to expand the evidence for the railway sector by documenting the importance of this trade‐off in the context of the Brazilian freight railway industry reform, the first example of a railway sector in which tariff revisions are subject to joint output and quality performance indicators. The analysis is based on the calculation of the Malmquist productivity index proposed by Färe et al. (1995) . The decomposable nature of this total factor productivity (TFP) index reveals the prevalence of quantity‐quality trade‐offs up to the end of the reform period, but a positive correlation between them during the period just afterwards. This type of information would certainly be useful for regulation purposes, particularly as an alternative way of taking into account quality without introducing complex, and very often ineffective, penalty schemes.     

FRONTIÈRE DE PRODUCTION ET MESURE DE L'EFFICACITÉ TECHNIQUE: Le cas de 1‘électricité dans dix entreprises subsahariennes*

RÉSUMÉ ** ** Abstract at the end of the article; Zusammenfassung am Ende des Artikels; resúmen al fin del artículo.
: Mesurer la performance globale des entreprises publiques est wte tâche ardue en raison des multiples objectifs konomiques et sociaux qui sod habituellemeni assignés à ces organisatwns. L'article s'attmhe à appécier un aspect particulier mais néanmoins important de laperformance éonomique: l‘efficience techruque. Une frontiére des possibilités de production est dérwée de l'estimation d'une fonction de production de type Cobb-Douglas sur un éhantillon de dix sociétés africaines pmductrices d‘éectricité. La principale conclusion qui se dégage de l’analyse économétrique est la suivante: l‘écart relatif d‘efficience entre les dew soeiétés extrêmes de la distribution est de l'odre de20%, avant comme aprè correction Cle l'efficience pour l'action de factews d'environnement exogènes à la gestion des sociitb.     

COMMENT EXPLIQUER LA PRÉSENCE D'ORGANISATIONS A BUT NON LUCRATIF DANS UNE ECONOMIE DE MARCHÉ? Une théorie socio-économique des organisations non lucratives

RÉSUMÉ ** ** Abstract at the end of the article: Zusammenfassung am Ende des Artikels; resúmen al fin del artículo.
: Le secteur à but non lucratif constitue un secteur non néligeable de notre écommie qui reste cependant sous exploré tant sur leplan empirique que théorique. De récents travaux anglo-Saxons et français permettent de mieux cerner cette réalité. Le programme de recherche du secteur à but non lucratif traite deux types de problématiques: la problématique de l‘origine (pourquoi les organisations à but non lucratif existent elles?) et la problématique du comportement (en quoi se différencient-elles d‘autres formes d‘organisations?). Une approche socio-économique des organisations non lucratives est auancée à partir du problème de la coordination de l‘action. On peut en effet considérer que les institutions sont créées afin d‘aider les agents éonomiques à résoudre les problèmes rècurrents de coordination auxquels ils ont à faire face. Dam cette perspective l'organisatwn rwn lucrative peut être comprise comme un mécanisme de compromis permettant de gérer les tensions entre quatres logiques de coordination: les logiques marchande, domestique, solidaire et civique.     

Investigating geography and institutions as determinants of foreign direct investment in Africa using panel data

This article uses a cross-country econometric approach to identify the determinants for foreign direct investment (FDI) in Africa. The contribution is 3-fold. Firstly, we recognize that the estimation techniques used elsewhere, such as ordinary least squares, may be flawed. We therefore use a dynamic one-step generalized method of moments (GMM) estimator due to Arellano and Bond (1991 Arellano, M and Bond, S. 1991. Some tests of specification for panel data: Monte Carlo evidence and an application to employment equations. Review of Economic Studies, 58: 277–97. [Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]). The GMM-estimates identified a number of robust determinants of FDI, namely government consumption, inflation rate, investment, governance (political stability, accountability, regulatory burden, rule of law) and initial literacy. It is concluded that geography does not seem to have a direct influence on FDI flows to Africa. Neither market-seeking nor re-exporting motives of FDI seem to dominate, with different policy instruments being significant in the different specifications. This does not discount the importance of good policies, but probably indicates the importance of good policies made by good institutions. Institutions, in the form of political stability showed up as a significant determinant of FDI.     

LES QUASI‐MARCHES DANS L’AIDE A DOMICILE: UNE MISE EN PERSPECTIVE EUROPEENNE

RESUME ** 2 Abstract at the end of the article; Zusammenfassung am Ende des Artikels; resumen al final del artículo.
: L’aide à domicile est emblématique d’importantes mutations à l’?uvre dans les sociétés européennes. L’objet de l’article est d’analyser les enjeux sous‐jacents à l’évolution des modes de régulation vers les quasi‐marchés. Dans la première partie, nous rappelons la nature des modes de régulations historiques de l’aide à domicile dans chacun des pays qui façonnent ainsi des régimes de care. Ensuite, nous analysons comment l’introduction de régulations quasi‐marchandes vient se greffer et ainsi infléchir les régimes de care. Enfin, nous analysons en quoi la présence d’échecs du marché soulève des questions toutes particulières en terme de régulation publique.     

What Explains Herd Behavior in the Chinese Stock Market?

This article examines the causes of herd behavior in the Chinese stock market. Using the nonlinear model of Chang, Cheng, and Khorana [2000 Chang, E. C., J. W. Cheng, and A. Khorana. “An Examination of Herd Behavior in Equity Markets: An International Perspective.” Journal of Banking and Finance, 24, (2000), pp. 1651–1679.[Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]], the authors of this article find robust evidence of herding in both the up and down markets. They contribute to the existing literature by exploring the underlying reasons for herding in China. It is shown that analyst recommendation, short-term investor horizon, and risk are the principal causes of herding. However, the authors cannot find evidence that relates herding to firm size, nor can they detect significant differences in herding between state-owned enterprises and non–state-owned enterprises.     

Constructing Clinical Use: An Activity-Theoretical Perspective on Implementing New Technology

Abstract

The paper presents recent insights from the ongoing FORLEARN project, which aims to develop Foresight theory and practise by supporting the sharing of experience (‘mutual learning’) in Europe. Six functions of Foresight for policy-making are elaborated on:

• (1)?Informing policy: generating insights regarding the dynamics of change, future challenges and options, along with new ideas, and transmitting them to policymakers as an input to policy conceptualisation and design.

• (2)?Facilitating policy implementation: enhancing the capacity for change within a given policy field by building a common awareness of the current situation and future challenges, as well as new networks and visions among stakeholders.

• (3)?Embedding participation in policy-making: facilitating the participation of civil society in the policy-making process, thereby improving its transparency and legitimacy.

• (4)?Supporting policy definition: jointly translating outcomes from the collective process into specific options for policy definition and implementation.

• (5)?Reconfiguring the policy system: in a way that makes it more apt to address long-term challenges.

• (6)?Symbolic function: indicating to the public that policy is based on rational information.

The relationship between these functions and the tensions that can arise when a Foresight exercise attempts to address more than one function are discussed. Possible approaches for Foresight practice to better achieve the targeted impact on policy-making are outlined and emerging guidelines for improving Foresight practice are presented.     

Exploring the relationship between university and innovation: evidence from the Italian food industry

This study provides empirical evidence on the role of universities’ technological transfer (TT) activities in the Italian manufacturing sector, with particular attention to the food industry. Using the UniCredit-Capitalia database (2008 UniCredit-Capitalia. 2008. Decima Indagine Sulle Imprese Manifatturiere Italiane. Rapporto Corporate. [Google Scholar]) for firms and data from the Ministry of Education, University and Research (MIUR) to obtain the university TT indicator, we estimate a probit model to assess the effect of universities’ TT activities on a firm’s likelihood to innovate. The role of proximity in knowledge spillovers from TT activities is also investigated. Results show that university TT activities seem to stimulate food industry firms innovation and the impact appears significantly higher than for the manufacturing sector. Moreover, the effect of TT activities on innovation appears to be geographically bounded. As regards policy implications, this study provides two insights which may help promote innovation in the food sector. First, the factors that influence innovative capability in the food sector are different from those in other sectors, suggesting the need for sector specific instruments for promoting innovation. Second, science is important in the food industry and this raises questions about the policy of mainly considering high-tech industries when promoting a closer relationship between firms and universities.     

Rationality, political economy, and fiscal responsibility: wrestling with tragedy on the fiscal commons

The continuing budget deficits and accumulating public debt that commonly plagues western democracies reflects a clash between two rationalities regarding human governance: one of private property and its conventions and one of common property and its procedural framework. Democratic budgeting creates a form of fiscal commons whose governance is subject to the tragic outcomes depicted by Garret Hardin (in Science 162:1243?C1248, 1968). To be sure, tragedy can be avoided as Elinor Ostrom (1990) explains, but only to the extent that the fiscal commons is governed in a manner consonant with Antonio De Viti de Marco??s (1936) model of the cooperative state. While the tragedy of the commons that results from this tectonic clash is an inherent feature of democratic political economy, that tragedy can nonetheless be limited through reasserting the conventions and institutions of a constitution of liberty.     

Assessing monetary policy in the euro area: a factor-augmented VAR approach

In order to overcome the omitted information problem of small-scale Vector Autoregression (VAR) models, this study combines the VAR methodology with dynamic factor analysis and assesses the effects of monetary policy shocks in the euro area in the period during which there is a single monetary policy. Using the Factor-Augmented Vector Autoregressive (FAVAR) approach of Bernanke et al. (2005 Bernanke, B, Boivin, J and Eliasz, P. 2005. Measuring the effects of monetary policy: a factor-augmented vector autoregressive (FAVAR) approach. The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 120: 387–422. [Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]), we summarize the information contained in a large set of macroeconomic time series with a small number of estimated factors and use them as regressors in recursive VARs to evaluate the impact of the nonsystematic component of the European Central Bank's (ECB's) actions. Overall, our results suggest that the inclusion of factors in the VAR allows us to obtain a more coherent picture of the effects of monetary policy innovations, both by achieving responses easier to understand from the theoretical point of view and by increasing the precision of such responses. Moreover, this framework allows us to compute impulse-response functions for all the variables included in the panel, thereby providing a more complete depiction of the effects of policy disturbances. However, the extra information generated by the FAVAR also delivers some puzzling responses, in particular those relating to exchange rates.     

Some regulatory lessons to be drawn from the financial crisis

The article briefly outlines how the two major structural causes of the financial crisis have been a massive underestimation of the negative externalities potentially arising from malfunctioning of financial markets, and the policy decision to assign the production of an eminently public good, financial stability, to private parties. Both ideas have been a tenet of the so-called Greenspan doctrine. The crisis also shows that all regulators tend to be captured in the end, and thus any new legislation should contain bright-line rules, that might look inefficient when assessed with reference to the market they regulate, but are socially efficient, because it would be politically costly to alter them. Criminal sanctions, which after all are a social form of regulation, should also be strengthened.

The limitation of monotonicity property of option prices: an empirical evidence

Many option pricing models are based on the assumption that the underlying asset price follows one-dimensional diffusion process. An alternative approach is to test the properties that should hold for all models based on a given stochastic process for the underlying asset. Following Pérignon (2006 Pérignon, C. 2006. Testing the monotonicity property of option prices. Journal of Derivatives, 14: 61–76. [Crossref] , [Google Scholar]), we test the empirical validity of the monotonicity property for option prices by collecting all transaction data from 1 July 2006 to 31 December 2006 for option contracts traded on the Taiwan Futures Exchange (TAIFEX). We find that sampled intraday option prices violate the monotonicity property between 29.97% and 57% of the time, and that call and put prices often increase, or decrease, together. We also find evidence to show that the frequent violations of the monotonicity property are to a large extent attributable to microstructure effects and that they arise from rational trading tactics.     

Monetary policy and country risk

This article develops an econometric model in order to study country risk behaviour for six emerging economies (Argentina, Mexico, Russia, Thailand, Korea and Indonesia), by expanding the country beta risk model of Harvey and Zhou (1993 Harvey, CR and Zhou, G. 1993. International asset pricing with alternative distributional specifications. Journal of Empirical Finance, 1: 107–31. [Crossref] , [Google Scholar]), Erb et al . (1996a, b) and Gangemi et al . (2000). Towards this end, we have analysed the impact of macroeconomic variables, especially monetary policy, upon country risk, by way of a time-varying parameter approach. The results indicate an unstable effect of monetary policy upon country risk in periods of crisis. However, this effect is stable in other periods, and the Favero–Giavazzi effect is not verified for all economies, with an opposite effect being observed in many cases.