Output‐based rebating of carbon taxes in a neighbour's backyard: Competitiveness,leakage and welfare

We investigate how, in an open economy, carbon taxes combined with output‐based rebating (OBR) perform in interaction with the carbon policies of a large neighbouring trading partner. Analytical results suggest that, whether the purpose of the OBR policy is to compensate firms for carbon tax burdens or to maximize welfare (accounting for global emission reductions), the OBR rate should be positive in policy‐relevant cases. Numerical simulations for Canada, with the US as the neighbouring trading partner, indicate that the impact of US policies on the OBR rate will depend crucially on the purpose of the Canadian OBR policies. If, for a given US carbon policy, Canada's aim is to restore the competitiveness of domestic emission‐intensive and trade‐exposed (EITE) firms to the same level as before the introduction of its own carbon taxation, we find that the necessary domestic OBR rates will be insensitive to the foreign carbon policies. However, if not only the Canadian carbon tax but also an equally high US tax is introduced, compensatory Canadian OBR rates will be up to 50% lower, depending on the sector and on US OBR policy. If the policy objective is to increase economy‐wide allocative efficiency (welfare) of Canadian policies by accounting for carbon leakage, the US policies will have only a minor downward pressure on desirable OBR rates in Canada. Practical choices of OBR rates hardly affect overall domestic economic performance; thus, output‐based rebating qualifies as an instrument for compensating EITE industries without a large sacrifice in terms of economy‐wide allocative efficiency.     

Automatic transfer payments to developing countries

As a more critical view is being taken of traditional development aid concepts, alternative means of advancing the resource transfer between industrialized and developing countries have attracted increasing attention in recent years. A system of tendentially automated transfer payments to developing countries is one of these alternatives. The author of the following article examines whether such a system has a chance of meeting common interests of industrialized and developing countries and how it could be elaborated to make it more effective.     

Operational Improvement: The Key to Value Creation in Private Equity

With credit tightening having reduced the availability of leverage and intensified the competition for new deals, the economic recession has caused many companies in private equity firm portfolios to under-perform. These changes are forcing the private equity firms to depend even more on their ability to improve operating performance to achieve their investment goals and generate attractive returns. But few PE firms have proved capable of achieving such improvements in portfolio companies consistently over time.
In this paper, the authors discuss several ways that private equity firms use their operating expertise to drive value in their portfolio companies. They also examine the analytical framework used by some PE firms when assessing and prioritizing the many operational initiatives that could be undertaken within a newly acquired company. Part of that examination involves a detailed look at how private equity firms assemble an attractive mix of operational improvement projects in their initial 100-day plans. Finally, the authors explore one of the challenges faced by private equity firms when attempting to implement operational enhancements in newly acquired companies: bringing about change without alienating company management.
The real-world application of this approach is demonstrated with a case study that shows how one private equity buyer put its operational skills into practice to help create value within a mid-sized portfolio company.     

Bust prominence related to bra fit problems

Poorly fitted bras lead to physical discomfort or more serious health problems such as muscle fatigue or pain. The purpose of this study is to find the relationship of bust prominence (one aspect of size) to fit problems women perceive in their everyday bras. To investigate this relationship, this study recruited female college students and measured their bust prominence using three previously developed methods of determining bra size. A bra fit questionnaire was then administered to survey the participants' perceptions on the bras they typically wore to school or work. Results show that lack of sufficient support is the most prevailing bra fit problem among this group of young women, and participants with prominent breasts, in particular, are likely to perceive the fit problems of tight bra cups and loose bra bands. Although the convenience sample may not represent a generalization of breast shape in college women, findings related to bra fit perceptions of women will assist bra companies in designing and producing better fitting bras for female consumers with various bust prominences. Meanwhile, information related to calculated differences of chest, bust and under‐bust circumferences will help design a more practical and reliable bra classification system.     

Managing external demands: Renewable sources versus efficient use

Efficient energy use and renewable energy sources are necessary to achieve a sustainable energy system. In the late 1980s, an expected supply capacity shortage made efficient end use interesting. However, the uncertain outcome of such efforts conflicted with the responsibility of utilities to deliver energy. In the early 1990s, a politically announced emphasis on competition shifted concern to a desire to be businesslike, which was compatible with the conception employed for the use of renewable sources. Implementations were always presented in response to internal needs. If the new orientation was related to the business core, it became incorporated into operations. Otherwise, it was buffered against interference and was dropped as soon as the external pressure ceased. Thus, the motives must also have been external. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.     

Welfare and growth impacts of innovation policies in a small, open economy; an applied general equilibrium analysis

We explore how innovation incentives in a small, open economy should be designed in order to achieve the highest welfare and growth. The computable general equilibrium model we develop for the purpose allows for research and development (R&D)-driven endogenous technological change embodied in varieties of capital. We study policy alternatives targeted towards R&D, capital varieties formation, and domestic investments in capital varieties. Subsidising domestic investments, thereby excluding stimuli to world market deliveries, generates less R&D, capital formation, economic growth, and welfare than do the other alternatives, reflecting that the domestic market for capital varieties is limited. In spite of breeding stronger economic growth, a higher number of patents, and a higher share of R&D in total production, direct R&D support generates slightly less welfare than subsidising formation of capital varieties. The costs in terms of welfare relates to a lower production within each variety firm, which in presence of mark-up pricing results in efficiency losses.