Implementing monetary base rules: The currency problem

Monetary policy rules which rely on the monetary base have been advocated by Meltzer and McCallum. Proponents claim that following monetary base rules would minimize fluctuations around the target growth rate for nominal GNP. Critics of such rules contend that currency has not been properly accounted for in their analysis. This paper examines McCallum's monetary base rule by explicitly taking the demand for currency into account. Assuming that currency is supplied elastically, our investigation quantifies changes in the composition of the monetary base under these rules and provides an estimate of how these compositional changes might affect the variability around the target nominal GNP growth rate.     

The economics of subsidies for R&D: Implications for reform of EU state aid rules

The primary aim of the reform of EU rules on research, development and innovation for the period 2014–20 is to ensure that aid stimulates more research and that it is kept to the minimum necessary. This paper develops a simple model that identifies a number of problems in the public funding of private research and demonstrates that the determination of the optimum subsidy for research is a complex task. The results suggest that research subsidies should be allocated in a way that reduces the amount of subsidy per recipient firm and ensures that the subsidies go to more efficient firms.     

Cross-border trade and contract awards The intellectual myopia at the heart of the EU procurement rules

As part of the Single Market initiative the European Commission has put in place rules to encourage greater transparency about public contracting in the EU member states. Although the new rules are well intentioned, this article argues that the rules, which came into force after 1992, may be based on a false logic concerning the benefits to consumers of neo-liberal market principles. In essence it is argued that the new rules will not have the impact on cross-border contract awards that the framers of the public procurement Directives intended. This argument is supported by an analysis of EU contract awards in 1993.     

ISPS规则及实施问题探析

ISPS规则(International Ship and Port Facility Security Code),即《国际船舶与港口设施安全规则》已于今年7月1日由国际海事组织在全球范围内实施.作为一套建立在风险评估基础上,针对所确定的各种保安威胁建立适当应对措施的应急计划系统,ISPS的目的是提供一个风险评估的标准和统一的合作框架,使各缔约国能够及时应对威胁的改变以及船舶和港口设施安全性能的变化,从而确保船舶和港口设施的安全运营.     

The institutional dimension of business ethics: An agenda for reflection research and action

The current discussion of business ethics is nothing new. In fact it has been a topic of common interest to both researchers and top managers since the mid fifties; the focus adjusting to issues and problems of the times. The authors of the article list four themes they believe to be of relevance for future discussion. First, ethics as an instrument of business behavior is entering a new dimension due to negative side effects of economic activities, which are even observed on a global scale and where it is doubtful that governments can adequately manage this complex environment. From this view, ethics becomes a decisive component of efficiency and requires a new way of thinking on the development of the market system and on a new delineation of responsibilities between government and markets. Second, in the process of transformation of the East-European states it seems to be all the more important to emphasize the ethical characteristics which are part of the concept of competition — the gains to the consumer due to the plurality of search and discovery procedures, the capability to correct and absorb wrong decisions, and the specific distributional ethics. Third, business ethics as an element of the firm's “guiding vision” has to be incorporated into its corporate culture, which will foster an institutional ethic of the firm — the joint effect of individual ethics within the history of the firm coupled with time and experience. Fourth, conflicting business philosophies must be judged with reference to the process of communication of business ethics. Summing up business ethics has a micro and macro component and is related to the individual firm as well as to the structure of the economic and social order. Ethics will, however, have a limited effect if it is not accompanied by the change in goals, structures and processes.     

Leaving home: An institutional perspective on intermediary HQ relocations

We investigate the effect of changing national institutions on relocations of intermediary HQs. Using a dataset of 154 cross-border relocations between the period from 2000 to 2015, we draw on the intermediary HQ’s middle position within the MNC and investigate how a decrease in institutional quality in the HQ’s host country and a change in institutional distance between different MNC units affect the relocation decision. Our findings advance the emergent literature on HQ relocations as well as our knowledge of intermediary HQs and the effect of changing institutions on organizational location choices. Beyond our theoretical contributions, we offer policy and managerial implications.     

Internationalization and breaking the glass ceiling: An institutional perspective

Gender diversity continues to serve as a thought-provoking and challenging topic for society and business alike. Even as organizations implement policies to minimize discriminatory practices in the workplace, evidence of gender inequality in firms around the world persists. Drawing on institutional theory, this study focuses on the effect that foreign investors and host country corporate social responsibility (CSR) policies have on gender diversity, and how professional groups can moderate this relationship. In analyzing 608 observations from listed firms in Taiwan, the findings demonstrate these relationships. It is shown that both foreign investor ownership and good host country CSR in firms are positively linked to the promotion of women into managerial positions. The assurance of professional groups in home countries further enhances this positive relationship. Our results further indicate how institutions carried across borders by organizations can influence firm decisions such as gender diversity through global norms of corporate CSR and also by the assurance of professional groups in the home multinational firm.     

Retailers’ foreign market entry decisions: An institutional perspective

Institutional theory emphasizes the relationship between organizations and the environment. Institutions consist of political, cognitive and sociological elements that form the external and internal environment of a firm. Both external and internal environments affect firm decisions and behaviors. This paper introduces institutional theory as a complementary framework to explain international retailers’ foreign market entry choices and suggests propositions for further research. We also consider managerial implications in relation to this theoretical perspective as an explanation for retailers’ internationalization.     

EU After COVID-19: An Opportunity for Policy Coordination

Intereconomics - Despite all the difficulties inherent to our political organisation, the European Union has taken a bold step by doubling the EU budget for the next six years with the NGEU fund.     

The international debt problem: An analysis of the Brady plan

Recently the American Treasury Secretary, Nicholas Brady, launched a new initiative in which he proposed reducing the developing countries’ bank debt. What are the elements of the plan, and which countries would benefit? What problems does it entail? Can it bring about a decisive improvement in the international debt situation of the developing countries? The following two articles attempt to answer these questions.     

An examination of EU trade disintegration scenarios

This paper demonstrates the welfare implications of the differential disintegration of the EU. Using a structural gravity approach, our estimates suggest that the rest of the EU countries have much more to lose from the disintegration of the EU compared to a disorderly Brexit. At the same time, neighbouring high‐income and middle‐income countries, such as Bosnia and Herzegovina and Norway, are expected to benefit from EU disintegration under some scenarios because trade would be diverted from EU countries.     

The Brexit Dynamics: British and EU27 Challenges After the EU Referendum

Prior to the Brexit referendum, the UK government sent an information brochure to households across the country. Surprisingly, key findings of a study by the UK Treasury — including an expected per capita income loss of £1800 — were not included in the brochure. Calculations indicate that if this information had been included, the outcome of the referendum would have been 52.1% for Remain. Instead, the pro-Brexit campaign utilised anti-immigrant rhetoric to create a scapegoat for the under-provision of local public services, when actually this was due to massive cuts in budget transfers to local communities after the financial crisis. Looking ahead, major reforms are now necessary if the EU is not to disintegrate. Given the fresh support in the UK and US for banking deregulation, the EU must stand firm in support of prudential supervision and banking regulation to prevent a new international banking crisis.     

Japanese foreign direct investment in India: An institutional theory approach

This article charts the history of Japanese corporate engagement with India. While there has been a profound historic relationship between the two nations, economic interaction is commonly portrayed in the context of geographical and psychic distance. As institutions set the rules of corporate engagement, we analyse the evolving regulatory and policy regime for foreign direct investment (FDI) in post-independence India and the corporate strategies of Japanese multinational enterprises (MNEs) in response to this institutional change. Using a firm-level dataset we show that the trajectory of Japanese investment in India broadly follows that of other nationalities of foreign firms. Differentiated responses to institutional changes are detected by industry. Our analysis reveals important instances of Japanese firm flexibility and pragmatism vis-à-vis the rapidly growing Indian market.     

Knowledge diffusion in the African context: An institutional theory perspective

Multinational companies have been increasing their investments in Africa as they become aware of the high returns available there. These investments often require relations with African partners and rely on knowledge transfer for their success. For these relations to be successful, we argue that multinationals must eschew the knowledge‐transfer approaches that reflect the ethnocentric assumption that codifiable knowledge can be disseminated with little regard to the unique circumstances of the African context, and by disregarding culturally embedded tacit knowledge. This article offers the conceptual lens of institutional theory as a way to improve the processes of knowledge diffusion and learning. We show how this theory can lead to a better understanding of the process of knowledge diffusion within the African context by requiring foreign investors and expatriates to improve their understanding of the African business environment. We then assess the role of boundary spanners in the diffusion process and identify some circumstances that might impinge on knowledge diffusion. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

The CAP in disarray: EU commission proposes basic direct payments to EU farmers

Direct payments were originally justified as a mechanism to compensate farmers for the income loss incurred due to reduced intervention prices. However, this rationale is not valid any more, and a new justification for basic income support by granting basic decoupled direct payments has been proposed by the EU Commission. The following paper identifies a number of problems related to this proposal.