Contracts and competition: an introduction

Changes in public policy and corporate strategy have enhancedthe role of contracts as mechanisms of economic governance.The understanding that norms, standards and other forms of regulatorymechanism can affect the structure of incentives and the qualityof contractual outcomes has helped to stimulate a wider debateconcerning institutions and economic performance. Among thethemes explored in this Special Issue, which draws on the UKESRC's Contracts and Competition Programme, are the need forinterdisciplinary analysis of economic organisation; the linkbetween contracts and trust; and the complex relationship betweeninstitutional forms and economic outcomes.     

From Vienna to Virginia: Exchange,rules, and social cooperation an introduction to the symposium

Serving as an introduction to the essays in this volume, we put forward an intellectual hardcore for a shared research agenda between Austrian and Virginia political economy. This research agenda rests on three pillars: exchange, rules, and social cooperation. Each of these pillars forms the distinctive flavor of Austrian and Virginian political economy with respect to theoretical approach, types and applications of empirics, and even to normative questions. Our essay explores the meaning of these pillars with respect to the broader study of political economy, as well as the intellectual superstructure of each respective school.     

Forecasting and planning in an incoherent context

What follows concerning the predicament of forecasts and planning is subject to the same criticisms and constraints I apply to them and their context. My observations are also forecasts: stories based on arbitrary and fragmentary images of social “reality” and my words share the same dubious status as words per se that I shall describe later. But all of us are sinking in this ontological and epistemological swamp: To paraphrase the Tao Te Ching, those who know can not say: those who say do not know. So be it.     

International Telecommunications Forecasting: an Investigation of Alternative Functional Forms

This paper provides an investigation of alternative models of international telecommunications traffic for several of the main streams emanating from Australia. Specifically, several alternative functional forms are compared with the standard double-log specification so often used in such studies. The motivation for such a study is twofold. In the first place, the double-log specification generates elasticities that are constant over time. Given the intertemporal changes in the budget share of telecommunications, this may not be a resonable formulation. The second motivation derives from teh need to use the demand models to forecast. Although the double-log model may provide a good within-sample fit, this is no gurantee that it will provide good post-sample forecasts.     

Long-term care insurance: an essential employee benefit

Growing numbers of employers are embracing long-term care insurance (LTCI) as an important new addition to their employee benefits package due to aging baby boomers, tax favorable legislation, the need for employee retention and rising costs of care. Even the best retirement plans can be gutted by the high costs of long-term care. The authors identify key components of LTCI and offer guidelines for selecting an LTCI company.