Does Organizational Form Impact Pricing Asymmetry? Evidence from Nonprofit Financial Institutions

Why output prices tend to rise faster in response to input cost increases than they fall in response to input cost decreases is a hotly debated issue in modern economics. In this article, I contribute to this asymmetric pricing debate by expanding the domain of organizational forms where this question has been investigated. More specifically, previous research has focused on for‐profit firms. I expand the investigation by focusing on nonprofit organizations. Credit unions are the nonprofit organization used in my analysis. Credit unions provide essentially identical types of consumer financial services and products as commercial banks but do so from a very different not‐for‐profit orientation. However, in this study, I document similar asymmetric rate‐setting behavior by credit unions. This suggests that pricing asymmetry is likely to be much more widespread, as it relates to nonprofit institutions as well as those in the for‐profit sector.     

强化政府养老保障责任的理论模式与路径分析

在人口老龄化的巨大冲击下,政府所能够生产并向社会成员提供的养老保障品资源和能力是有限的,首先应当明确养老保障是政府实现国家职能一个不能推卸的责任,并且政府拥有一系列其他非政府组织或盈利机构所不具备的执行能力和政策手段。文章建立了一个新型＂两期两圈＂政府养老责任理论依据,并认为政府养老责任的强化可以通过充分结合非政府组织、私营机构和公民个人的共同力量得以实现,构建一个积极的养老保障制度。     

Understanding South African social security through recent household surveys: New opportunities and continuing gaps

The aim of this article is to identify some of the difficult areas in researching the South African social security system, and to offer suggestions as to the kind of further research that is needed to improve our understanding over time. The article starts with a brief ‘tour’ through some of the articles dealing with the subject that have already appeared in Development South Africa, with a view to showing their relationship to each other and to the main data sets which have been used. This is followed by sections on the size of pension income relative to other sources of income; the use of the term ‘transfer income'; the relationship between policy design and socio‐economic behaviour; and some difficulties when comparing different government expenditures on welfare. It is hoped that this will contribute to a more careful analysis and interpretation of existing research, as well as the more precise formulation of social security research in future.     

The future effect of e‐business on treasury and risk management systems and treasury management in South Africa

‘Internet’ and ‘e‐business’ are words that have become part of today's business world. Invariably we hear of the effect thereof on the way we used to do things, due to the shift in paradigm from command and control to a more open globalised, multi‐polar world. Traditional ways of doing business are fast becoming redundant, as they are not able to cater for the needs of a business in cyberspace. New technology has helped create new risks and more volatility in the financial environment due to the ease with which information is spread. To benefit from the many new developments that allow more efficient marketing, improved productivity, lower costs, better service, and better access to financial resources, a rethink or re‐engineering of the way we used to do things will be necessary. Doing business in cyberspace means getting involved in an environment where all rules have not yet emerged and where breach of security is a very real threat. E‐business has important implications for South Africa as an emerging economy, as it creates the possibility for better access to various financial resources and eventual increased economic activity. This will affect all sectors in the economy and may lead to generally improved business infrastructure for the country as whole and for individual businesses, local authorities and government treasury departments. This is especially important for South Africa as a developing country as it may lead to a stronger economy, which, in turn, will make an important contribution to more rapid alleviation of poverty and more rapid reform in the long run.     

On Public Organizations in Ghana: What Differentiates Good Performers from Poor Performers?*

Abstract: Public sector reform programs implemented across Africa, including the World Bank's ‘first’ and ‘second’ generation reforms, are based on the assumption that all public organizations are inefficient. This problematic assumption has had significant implications for policy in Africa. By failing to recognize that not all public organizations perform poorly, we ignore any potential lessons that could have been learnt from the experiences of organizations that have managed to perform effectively under the same social, political, economic and institutional environment. This paper uses Ghana as a case study to examine whether there are significant differences in the characteristics of poor and good performing public organizations. It is found that good and poor performing organizations in Ghana were significantly different in two respects: remuneration and hiring criteria.     

Monopolising Islam: The Indonesian Ulama Council and state regulation of the ‘Islamic economy’

The Ulama Council of Indonesia (MUI) is an advisory body with a nationwide network of branches that produces fatwa ‘to guide the Islamic community and the government’. Nominally an independent NGO, MUI has always had a complex and mutually dependent relationship with the state, which established it and funds it. This paper describes regulatory changes since Soeharto's fall in 1998 that have expanded MUI's formal role in the state system for the administration of Islamic legal traditions and, in particular, the ‘syariah economy’. These changes have heightened MUI's influence and the legal authority of its fatwa, granting it new institutional roles (and, in some cases, monopolies) in relation to halal certification, Islamic finance and the haj pilgrimage. MUI has now begun to accrue quasi-legislative powers resembling those enjoyed by state ulama councils and state Muftis elsewhere in Southeast Asia, but not previously available to any modern Indonesian fatwa-producing body.     

Managing Future Oil Revenues in Ghana: An Assessment of Alternative Allocation Options*

Abstract: Contemporary policy debates on the macroeconomics of resource booms often concentrate on the short‐run Dutch disease effects of public expenditure, ignoring the possible long‐term effects of alternative revenue‐allocation options and the supply‐side impact of royalty‐financed public investments. In a simple model applied here, the government decides the level and timing of resource‐rent spending. This model also considers productivity spillovers over time, which may exhibit a sector bias toward domestic production or exports. A dynamic computable general equilibrium (DCGE) model is used to simulate the effect of temporary oil revenue inflows to Ghana. The simulations show that beyond the short‐run Dutch disease effects, the relationship between windfall profits, growth, and households’ welfare is less straightforward than what the simple model of the ‘resource curse’ suggests. The DCGE model results suggest that designing a rule that allocates oil revenues to both productivity‐enhancing investments and an oil fund is crucial to achieving shared growth and macroeconomic stability.     

补充与合作：民间组织参与灾后农村公共服务供给的模式创新

公私合作伙伴理论是民间组织参与灾后重建农村公共服务供给的理论基础,其基本作用机理是有效和有益。结合民间组织参与公共服务供给的具体模式,以及灾后重建中农村公共服务供给的特点,民间组织参与灾后重建农村公共服务供给的具体模式——合作救灾,通过“合作”的方式,起着有益的“补充”作用。政府和民间组织两者之间形成了合作机制,实现了“多方共赢”,提供符合需求的灾后重建农村公共服务的供给。     

The problem of defining ‘community’: Challenges for the land reform programme in rural South Africa

This article argues that the use of the term ‘community’ in South Africa's land reform programme has both positive and negative effects on the beneficiaries. Effects are positive when they help focus policy on the needs of poor people, but negative when they force conflicting groups together in a manner which results in the rights of a weaker group being trampled on by the actions of a more powerful group. The article briefly reviews different ways of looking at the concept ‘community’, and then analyses in detail a case from the Wild Coast, where a Spatial Development Initiative (SDI) has raised questions about who should benefit from land reform and economic development. It is concluded that a detailed understanding of local reality, even if it takes time to develop, should be seen as essential to both land restitution and the rights enquiry processes which government policy proposes to employ for resolving conflicting and overlapping claims to tenure rights     

THE ECONOMIC CONSEQUENCES OF HARVESTER

A century has elapsed since the ‘New Protection’ policy of the newly established Commonwealth government of Australia gave birth to the ‘basic wage’ principle following the ‘Harvester’ judgement. This paper re‐examines, with special reference to economic considerations – unemployment, the tariff, and the wage structure – the controversy surrounding the initial formulation of this principle and the evolution of its application under the federal wage fixing tribunals and the legislation under which they operated. It concludes that even the vestigial remains of the concept underlying Harvester have progressively disappeared from Australian wage fixing principles.     

FDI productivity spillovers and the technology gap in Malaysia's electrical and electronic industries

This study measures the impact of indirect technology transfer through spillovers from foreign direct investment (FDI) on Malaysia's development of a ‘high‐tech’ sector, namely the electrical and electronic (E&E) industries. We estimate the total factor productivity (TFP) of establishments as a function of foreign presence within and across industries. Both the fixed assets and wages share of foreign establishments in a five‐digit ISIC (International Standard Industrial Classification) industry are used as measures of foreign presence. The estimations provide evidence of significantly negative (or insignificant) FDI vertical spillover effects and insignificant horizontal spillover effects on the TFP of domestic establishments. The positive (negative) coefficient of the interaction term between the forward (horizontal) spillover variable and the technology gap supports the ‘catching‐up’ (technology accumulation) hypothesis. The negative impact, even absence, of FDI spillover effects on TFP and the mixed evidence on the effects of interactions between FDI spillovers and the technology gap suggest that fine‐tuning of fiscal incentive schemes for FDI to arrive at positive net benefits may prove to be a daunting task in the Malaysian E&E industries.     

The Political Limits to Nongovernmental Organizations in Jordan

Nongovermental organizations (NGOs) are frequently touted as important actors in democratization. Yet despite the proliferation of NGOs since the advent of political liberalization and democratization in Jordan, they remain circumscribed by the realities of continued state power. Because the political transition was informed by a desire to perpetuate regime survival in the midst of economic crisis, NGOs continue to experience political limits to their activities. The regime primarily relies upon three strategies to control the NGO community: (a) administrative repression and oversight; (b) civil society “infiltration” through royal nongovernmental organizations and other government NGOs; and (c) centralization through the General Union of Voluntary Societies.     

Japanese nonprofit sector in comparative perspective

Nonprofit organizations have long been less visible in Japan than in most other developed countries. But this does not imply that Japan does not have a sizable nonprofit sector. To the contrary, large numbers of Japanese hospitals, universities, social service organizations, and community groups are essentially not‐for‐profit in form.     

略论我国非营利组织的产权困境及其治理

改革开放以来,我国非营利组织正以前所未有的速度向前发展,目前已经成为社会治理的重要主体。现实中,非营利组织发展遭遇了产权界定不清、运行保护低效,以至于功能缺失的困境。本文认为,应该通过有效的制度创新,通过培育有效的公益文化,完善有效产权结构途径来治理。     

World Trade in Used Automobiles: A Gravity Analysis of Japanese and US Exports*

We estimate a gravity model of Japanese and US exports of used automobiles that incorporates an original, ordered measure of protection in global, used automobile markets. The model confirms that, overall, protection by our measure is suppress‐ive and often statistically significant and that what we term ‘Grubel income effects’ are present. However, Japanese export behavior appears to differ in some important respects from that of the USA, with distance and protection levels being less significant and left‐hand side driving patterns being a critical explanatory variable.     

ECONOMIC REFORM WHEN THE CONSTITUTION MATTERS: INDONESIA'S CONSTITUTIONAL COURT AND ARTICLE 33

Article 33 of Indonesia's Constitution requires the state to ‘control’ important branches of production and natural resources. The meaning of ‘control’ has been a matter of significant debate since Indonesia's independence: does it require the state to manage directly, or is regulation enough? The government has recently sought to break down government monopolies and attract private investment in key sectors. To this end it has enacted a raft of new statutes, but they have been challenged in Indonesia's new Constitutional Court. The Court has opted for the ‘direct manage ment’ interpretation of article 33, striking down statutes that implicitly interpret it as requiring government regulation only. This paper discusses these decisions and, more broadly, problems arising from judicial intervention in economic policy formation. It also considers how the government has sought to circumvent the decisions, and the possible consequences of state non-compliance for the Court's future.     

论非营利组织及其在中国的发展

20世纪后期兴起的"全球社团革命"试图在市场与国家、政治与经济之外寻求解决人类所面临问题的第三种方法,由此导致既非市场又非政府的非营利组织快速发展及其作用的迅速扩大。本文在梳理非营利组织既有理论的基础上,分析了中国非营利组织的现状、特点及存在的不足,最后提出了     

Dualism or underdevelopment in South Africa: what does a quantitative assessment of poverty,inequality and employment reveal?

Debate over the nature of South African society has continued through the first decade of democratic government, including the question of a ‘First’ and a ‘Second’ economy. This paper focuses on the numbers and characteristics of those who might fit into the ‘Second’. The data examined suggest that both poverty and inequality have increased in South Africa since 1993, while also suggesting the presence of poverty traps that may hinder mobility and prevent individuals getting ahead despite the dramatic economic and political reforms since 1994. We estimate that some 6.2 million could be described as belonging to the ‘Second’ economy. However, we argue that there is more to the relationship between those who are marginalised and those who are benefiting from South Africa's achievement than a dualistic and disarticulated ‘First’ and ‘Second’ economy. Linkages of inclusion and exclusion determine the size, characteristics and future of the two economies.     

When ‘community’ is not enough: Managing common property natural resources in rural South Africa

Common property natural resource management (NRM) informer ‘bantustan’ rural areas can provide important pointers for current and future land reform and local government policy. Using Tyefu Location in the Eastern Cape as a case study, this article outlines three of the constraints that currently fashionable ‘community‐based’ NRM models are likely to face in coordinating the use of common property resources in these areas. These three constraints are first, the entrenched socio‐economic differentiation that results in local people having varied, but generally weak incentives for contributing to collective action resource management. Second, are the high levels of institutional contestation that exist in these areas and third, the fact that the ‘fuzziness’ of existing NRM regimes allows for maximum flexibility in resource use, with the result that most rural (and urban‐based) people are unlikely to support the introduction of more formalised NRM regimes.     

农村集体经济组织与农民专业合作社协同扶贫模式创新:重庆例证

农村集体经济组织和农民专业合作社是与农民联系较为紧密的两类经济组织,是贫困地区打赢脱贫攻坚战的重要内生性力量。但在实践中,受农村集体经济组织市场主体地位不明确、承担市场经营风险能力弱及农民专业合作社总体规模偏小、脱贫带动力不强等因素影响,两类主体的扶贫作用都未能得到充分发挥。重庆市城口县是国家扶贫开发工作重点县,在近年来的脱贫攻坚中,一方面普遍性地成立了新型农村集体经济组织,作为承接相关政府部门扶贫资源、开展村集体资产运营管理的平台;另一方面通过平等协商将村集体经济组织承接的扶贫资源以入股方式投入当地运行规范、实力较强的农民专业合作社,以获取相对稳定的分红收益,并优先用于增加贫困户收入。该模式既为村“两委”参与市场活动和承接政府扶贫资源提供了有效载体,又较好地保证了农民专业合作社等市场主体的经营自主权,有利于构建激励兼容、多方共赢的长效扶贫机制,是有镜鉴价值的扶贫模式创新。