How may a carbon tax transform Australian electricity industry? A CGE analysis

The carbon tax policy proposed by Australian government has triggered deep concerns about the high electricity prices facing households and the sustainability of electricity industry. By employing a computable general equilibrium (CGE) model and an environmentally extended Social Accounting Matrix (SAM), this article simulates the effect of Australian carbon tax on the electricity industry. The modelling results show that the wholesale electricity prices indeed increase by about 90%, but the retailer prices only increase by 25%. The coal-fired electricity generators will reduce their output by 8% (for black-coal) to 18% (for brown-coal), but the profitability of the industry will drop dramatically. On the other hand, generators using oil, gas or renewable resources, will increase their output significantly and enjoy a handsome profit. Through the price, cost and profitability mechanisms, the carbon tax will transfer the Australian electricity generation to a low emission industry in the long term.     

The Environmental and Economic Impact of the Carbon Tax in Australia

To fulfil its emission reduction target pledged in the Copenhagen accord, the Australian Government has determined to introduce a carbon tax from July 1st 2012. This paper simulates the effects on the environment and on the economy of a carbon tax of A$23 per tonne of carbon dioxide proposed by the government with, and without, a compensation policy. We employ a computable general equilibrium model with an environmentally extended Social accounting matrix. According to the simulation results, the carbon tax can cut emissions effectively, but will cause a mild economic contraction. Because the price signal is intact, the proposed compensation plan has little impact on emission cuts while significantly mitigating the negative effect of a carbon tax on the economy.     

Stabilization and the aftermarket prices of initial public offerings

The paper examines the determinants of stabilization and its impact on the aftermarket prices. We use a unique dataset to relax several assumptions in the stabilization literature. We find that underwriters support IPO prices shortly after listing, particularly in cold markets and when demand is weak. We also show that stabilized IPOs are more common amongst reputable underwriters. This finding suggests that stabilization may be used as a mechanism to protect the underwriter’s reputation. It also implies that reputable underwriters may possess private information and price IPOs closer to their true values (i.e., higher than those indicated by the weak premarket demand). Consistent with the latter view, we show that stabilized IPOs are offered at higher prices and suffer less underpricing than those indicated by the premarket demand, firm characteristics and market-wide conditions. The post-IPO performance results indicate that stabilized IPOs are unlikely to be mispriced as their prices do not exhibit any significant reversal after the initial stabilization period. We conclude that stabilization may be superior to underpricing as it protects investors from purchasing overpriced IPOs, benefits issuers by reducing the total money “left on the table” and enhances the overall profitability of underwriters.     

Technology and the future bioeconomy

New discoveries in life sciences and the challenge of climate change are leading to the emergence of the bioeconomy where basic methods of advanced biology are applied to produce a wide array of products while also improving environmental quality. The emergence of the bioeconomy is a continuing evolutionary process of transition from systems of mining nonrenewable resources to farming renewable ones. This transition benefits from the modern tools of molecular biology that have expanded the human capacity to breed new organisms and utilize them to increase productivity in agriculture and fisheries as well as produce a wide array of products that were extracted in the past. This transition is leading to the integration of the agricultural sector with the energy and mineral sectors. The introduction of biotechnology has already improved the productivity of medicine as well as agriculture but, in the case of agriculture, has encountered resistance and regulatory constraints. The evolution of the bioeconomy requires continuous public investment in research and innovation as well as the establishment of a regulatory framework and financial incentives and institutions that would lead to continuous private sector investment in the development and commercialization of new products. One of the biggest challenges is the development of a regulatory framework that would control possible human and environmental externalities from new biotechnology products and, at the same time, not stifle innovation.     

Estimating worldwide life satisfaction

Whilst studies of life satisfaction are becoming more common-place, their global coverage is far from complete. This paper develops a new database of life satisfaction scores for 178 countries, bringing together subjective well-being data from four surveys and using stepwise regression to estimate scores for nations where no subjective data are available. In doing so, we explore various factors that predict between-nation variation in subjective life satisfaction, building on Vemuri and Costanza's (Vemuri, A.W., & Costanza, R., 2006. The role of human, social, built, and natural capital in explaining life satisfaction at the country level: toward a National Well-Being Index (NWI). Ecological Economics, 58:119-133.) four capitals model. The main regression model explains 76% of variation in existing subjective scores; importantly, this includes poorer nations that had proven problematic in Vemuri and Costanza's (Vemuri, A.W., & Costanza, R., 2006. The role of human, social, built, and natural capital in explaining life satisfaction at the country level: toward a National Well-Being Index (NWI). Ecological Economics, 58:119-133.) study. Natural, human and socio-political capitals are all found to be strong predictors of life satisfaction. Built capital, operationalised as GDP, did not enter our regression model, being overshadowed by the human capital and socio-political capital factors that it inter-correlates with. The final database presents a stop-gap resource that, until robust surveys are carried out worldwide, allows comparisons of subjective life satisfaction between nations to be made with reasonable confidence.     

Employee work–life balance outcomes in Ireland: a multilevel investigation of supervisory support and perceived organizational support

This article examines how employee perceptions of supervisory and organizational support for work–life balance, in addition to the number of work–life balance programmes available, predict a number of work–life balance outcomes including role conflict, job satisfaction, family satisfaction and turnover intentions in a sample of large private and public sector organizations in Ireland. The attitudes of HR managers towards work–life balance programmes are also explored. To account for the nested structure of the data, analyses were conducted using hierarchical linear modelling. We found that perceptions of work–life supportiveness as measured at the HR manager and immediate supervisor levels affect employee uptake of work–life programmes, employee work–life balance outcomes and turnover intentions.     

Corporate Governance Reforms in the Post-1997 Asian Crisis: Is There Really a Convergence to the Anglo-American Model?

Abstract

Following the 1997-Asian crisis, a number of crisis-hit countries were committed to the rapid transformation of the corporate governance system to one that is modeled after the Anglo-American system. This, as the article argues, is based on a false premise, that what may have worked in the United States/United Kingdom can also be applied in East Asia. In this regard, the convergence at the firm level is seen to be more in “form” rather than in “substance”. This study assesses Singapore's corporate system in terms of its recognition of the merits of the Western model. It then details the corporate governance style of Temasek Holdings Limited (THL), a state- owned enterprise (SOE) in charge of monitoring government investments in companies. The choice of THL as a case study is based on the premise that THL operates very much like a private sector corporation. In addition, it has the ability to influence the standard of corporate governance of Singaporean SOEs. Because the SOEs are large players in their respective industries, the corporate governance of SOEs establish the standards and expectations for monitoring in non-SOEs. There are indications to suggest that the THL has taken into consideration certain aspects of corporate governance practices that may not necessarily be in line with those advocated by the Singapore government. The article argues that selective adaptation such as the style adopted in the THL more realistically portrays the corporate governance practices of East Asian corporations.     

Ecological footprint of Gansu Province, China between 1997 and 2002： changes and inducement

The calculation of Ecological Footprint （EF） on the basis of Input-Output model （I-O model） was advanced by Bicknell, and modified and improved hy Ferng who corrected the footprint＇s aggregation to each sectors. For the lack of sufficient teehnique to deal with the trade between the research areas and the rest of the world, it it necessary to improve this method. And a dynamic analysis of the change of footprint based on I-O model, which could explore the factor impacting the footprint using the ,special advantage of I-O model, ought to be put into practice. After introducing the new method in detail, we calculate and compare the EF and the change of Gansu Province in the northwest of China in 1997 and 2002. The result shows that there was an increase of EF in 2002 caused by final domestic demand. Further; the inerement in EF export was 2.0 × 10^5 ha and 1.6 × 10^6 ha in import. The out-of- region support dropped from 22.6% to 18. 6%. We introduce three factors causing the EF change based on the character of I-O model： the productivity of the resourve which is explained by the change of resource used to obtain one unit output in a sector, the improvement of the economics and the final demand. Finally, we find that the effects of the three factors on the EF change are not identical except the industry sectors and the change of factors in the agriculture and the industry sectors works notably.     

Engineering culture and accounting development at Albion Motors, 1900-c.1970

This paper examines the relationship between the engineering-oriented culture at Albion Motors, Scotland's most successful vehicle manufacturers, and the development and use of accounting systems there. Utilizing primary sources and information obtained from interviews, the study concludes that Albion's comparatively rudimentary management accounting systems, in particular, were a direct result of the firm's technological values. The study also concludes that there is no evidence that any major disadvantage accrued directly from this. It ends with a discussion of the relevance of the findings for issues in the accounting and business history literature and for future research.