Dividend policy: Shareholder rights and creditor rights under the impact of the global financial crisis

The extant literature shows that shareholder and creditor rights positively affect corporate payout policy in a static macroeconomic environment. This study examines how the effects of shareholder and creditor rights on dividend policy change under the impact of the global financial crisis. We posit that this exogenous shock increases agency costs of both shareholders and creditors. With a sample of 133,631 firm-year observations from 23,890 firms incorporated in 41 countries, we find that both shareholder and creditor rights are less effective in dividend decisions in the post-crisis period and the extent of shareholder (creditor) expropriation in the post-crisis period is larger when creditors (shareholders) are adequately protected.     

A spectre is haunting the world – the spectre of global capitalism

Individual property rights are fruitful for economic development because they civilise self-interest by forcing it to serve the common good. The history of previous property rights “cycles,” however, shows that their ability to do this deterioriates over time because the laws of property fall under the control of those whom property is meant to discipline. Irresponsible ownership then intensifies inequality until a breaking point is reached. The present cycle is no exception, but its breaking point has been postponed by the growth of the democratically-inspired welfare state. Globalisation is now eroding the financial basis of this, because mobile capital can escape taxation, leaving labour to carry the burden. The main thrust of this movement is now found in the World Trade Organisation, whose control of intellectual property and commitment to free trade in money as well as goods, can only increase inequality between countries as well as within them. It represents individual property rights which are out of any form of social control, since there is no global mechanism for civilising self-interest. Schumpeter's sense of the impending demise of capitalism, if not of its replacement by socialism, may yet be vindicated.     

Domestic segment of global value chains in China under state capitalism

This paper studies the relationship between the changing domestic segment of global value chains and the return of state capitalism in China. To this end, we propose a method to estimate an extended input-output (IO) table that tracks inter-sector transactions between different types of firms in a domestic economy. The method is an application of constrained optimization, which relies on basic information from a country's national IO table, as well as sector- and firm-level data. We also propose a way to construct bootstrapped standard errors for any global value chain (GVC) measures estimated from the extended IO tables. We then use the extended IO table to study the domestic segment of GVC in China. We find that, not only is state-owned enterprises’ (SOEs) domestic value-added to gross exports ratio much higher than those of other firms, but it also increased significantly from 1.2 in 2007 to 1.7 in 2010. Our findings suggest that, even after years of privatization, SOEs still play an important role in shaping China's exports.     

Intellectual property rights and the upgrading of the global value chain status

The present paper explores how intellectual property rights (IPR) protection affects an economy’s status in global value chains (GVC) by introducing IPR protection into the sequential production model. We find that a suitable IPR protection system that matches the phase of economic and technological development a country has reached is the key for developing countries to upgrade their status in GVC, which are dominated by multinational firms from developed countries. Empirical analysis with multinational panel data for 55 countries from 2005 to 2015 provides evidence in support of the predictions of this model, although the GVC‐enhancing effects of IPR protection are heterogeneous for developing and developed countries. The empirical conclusions are robust after using the instrumental variable method and controlling for endogeneity.     

The challenge of the commons: Estonian housing privatization

Housing privatization directly affects each individual and raises significant questions beyond those raised in business privatization. When businesses are privatized, the responsibilities are transferred with the ownership. Housing privatization transfers the ownership of and responsibility for the benefits and costs for the internal space of a flat. However, ownership of and responsibility for the common areas and systems in the large buildings-hallways, roofs, heating, lighting, or exterior walls-are not transferred. These buildings provide a classic scenario for the tragedy of the commons. Who gets the benefits and who pays the costs? How is the externality internalized and responsibility transferred? This paper evaluates the housing privatization process in Estonia with emphasis on the problems of maintenance and the formation of dwelling owners associations. Recommendations for resolution of the tragedy of the commons are provided.     

The paradox in the privatization of Hungary's public housinhg: a national gift or a bad bargain?1

The vast majority of Hungary's publicly owned, rental housing, once heavily subsidized, has passed through privatization into owner-occupation. Most tenants hoped to gain a financial advantage by privatization. This study sets out to discover how far such expectations have been met. Bearing in mind the cost of neglected renovation, what does a new owner gain by acquiring ownership of the dwelling and what costs does he or she incur? The study shows that privatization has presented the tenants, who had already benefitted from subsidies, with a sizeable ‘national gift’. The bigger and better the home they rented, the greater their privatization gift. However, there is a paradox to analyse: why has the gift proved a burden to many recipients? The study also looks at how the adaptation occurring in the housing sector might be improved and how the losses of those who find themselves in a predicament after privatization might be reduced.     

论人力资本产权交易

本文研究人力资本产权交易的特点、费用、价格及市场等几个基本理论问题 ,进一步完善和发展了人力资本产权交易理论 ,为人力资本产权投资和交易提供了理论依据 ,从理论上支持了人力资本参与企业剩余分配     

Global capitalism: A perspective of convergence

The role of government in the capitalist system is reviewed; the instrumentality of competition in the growth of an economy and its effects on the social system is discussed. Also, the phenomenon of inflation in the advanced economies as well as the industrial countries' high consumption and the social effects thereof are examined. The incidence of unemployment is discussed and comparison is made between capitalist and socialist countries. On the issue of income distribution and political power the interplay of political strife on redistributional policies and the penetrability of such political expediencies on future socioeconomic stability is examined. Also, an attempt is made to focus upon critical and polemic issues such as self-interest, social interest, wealth and power and their impact upon the socioeconomic and political structure of the society. Finally, the globalization of economics and the likelihood of new trends is discussed. Opinions and thoughts on the political growth of capitalism are expressed. Although this article does not claim to present final solutions, it does intend to electrify existing thought and hopefully generate new thinking on most politically controversial economic issues so that capitalism can gain ground against other systems in the new era of geopoliticosocioeconomic strife.     

The determinants of privatization prices: evidence from Turkey

This paper analyses the determinants of privatization prices in a multi-industry study using a sample of 68 recently privatized firms from Turkey. Results show that revenue and market characteristics are significant determinants of privatization prices while current cost and profit indicators are not. It is argued that potential buyers regard these state firms as inefficient, therefore do not take into consideration their current costs and profits in determining their value. When the dependent variable is altered by dividing the firm's privatization price by the firm's sales (revenues), it is found that sales-adjusted privatization prices are responsive to firms profit margins. However, this result does not hold when the sample is restricted to a single industry. Profit margins along with other profitability and firm efficiency measures are no longer significant determinants of sales-adjusted privatization prices in the cement industry analysis. Unexploited production opportunities measured by capacity utilization ratios, and complete private ownership resume a more important role.     

Capital in the Twenty-First Century: Reinterpreting the fundamental contradiction of capitalism

At a theoretical level this article discusses Piketty’s hypothesis that the distribution of income and wealth tends to become more concentrated over time when the rate of return on capital is greater than the growth rate of real output. We develop a post Keynesian model of growth and distribution showing that once capital is differentiated from wealth, the increase in income and wealth concentration actually occurs when the rate of valorization of financial and real estate assets is greater than the growth rate of real output, and that this situation may be triggered by financial liberalization.     

Determinants of privatization of public corporations: evidence from the Japanese experience

The main purpose of this study is to find factors affecting privatization decisions. This study investigates the determinants of privatization by applying the probit model for a data set of special public corporations in Japan. In December 2001, the Japanese government made a resolution to consider the privatization of special public corporations, evaluating 74 special public corporations for possible privatization. In the empirical analysis on the determinants of privatization, we find that among several factors affecting privatization decisions, two are important—the market condition factor and the policy/regulation factor. As for market conditions, a public corporation which exists in a commercialized industry is about 20% more likely to be privatized than others. As for the policy and regulation factor, the public corporation’s privatization under a single regulator is about 25% more likely, compared with the public corporation’s privatization under multiple regulators.     

购并抑或联盟:全球钢铁行业的战略整合

企业的发展分为内部化发展和外部化发展两种，内部化即通过自身的资本积累和能力提升来实现企业的发展；外部化即通过购并或联盟等形式直接获得规模的扩张。相比较而言，外部化的发展模式有着见效快、成本低等特点。 因此，自19世纪末以来一直受到西方企业界的高度重视，购并和战略联盟的案例屡见不鲜。仅2000年一年，欧盟加瑞士16国企业通过兼并与重组方式进行的对外投资（不包括欧洲内部相互间投资）总额就高达3200亿美元，其中流入到美国的资金多达2240亿美元，占了全部投资额的70%。其跨国兼并的规模仅次于欧洲的北美企业，涉及标的金额…