Transport tax reform, commuting, and endogenous values of time

We consider a model of urban transport with two trip purposes, commuting (assumed perfectly complementary to labour supply) and noncommuting, to analyse the effects of transport tax reform on the value of time and marginal external congestion costs. Higher commuting taxes plausibly reduce time values, but higher noncommuting transport prices will typically raise the value of time. The intuition for this latter finding is that the reduction in congestion that follows from the tax increase itself raises net wages per hour of work (inclusive of commuting time). Empirical illustrations with Belgian data show a potentially large effect of transport tax reform on time values. In quite a few of the tax reforms studied traffic levels are reduced, but the increase in time values implies that marginal external congestion costs actually increase.     

Developing enterprise collaboration: a methodology to implement and improve interoperability

The aim of this article is to present a methodology for guiding enterprises to implement and improve interoperability. This methodology is based on three components: a framework of interoperability which structures specific solutions of interoperability and is composed of abstraction levels, views and approaches dimensions; a method to measure interoperability including interoperability before (maturity) and during (operational performances) a partnership; and a structured approach defining the steps of the methodology, from the expression of an enterprise’s needs to implementation of solutions. The relationship which consistently relates these components forms the methodology and enables developing interoperability in a step-by-step manner. Each component of the methodology and the way it operates is presented. The overall approach is illustrated in a case study example on the basis of a process between a given company and its dealers. Conclusions and future perspectives are given at the end of the article.     

Neutral carbon tax and environmental targets in Brazil

We evaluate the effects of a carbon tax in the Brazilian economy using an input–output framework. First, we consider the impacts of a carbon tax of US$ 10 and US$ 50/metric ton of CO₂ equivalent. As usual, the adoption of the carbon tax generates adverse effects on GDP, wages and jobs in the short term, but reduces emissions and generates new government revenues, especially in the case of the greater tax. Second, we consider a broader tax system reform. In this reform, we replace distortionary taxes by a tax on value added. To compensate for the loss of government revenue, we assume a carbon tax with equivalent revenue. We find that the net effect is a GDP increase of 0.47%, the creation of 533 thousand jobs and reduction of 1.6 million tons of CO₂ emissions. Both scenarios exempt exports and levy imports to correct adverse effects on the country’s competitiveness.     

Human resource management in Asian subsidiaries: comparison of French and Japanese MNCs

European and Japanese multinational corporations (MNCs) have expanded their activities in Asia, usually through massive mobilization of various human resources from head offices, whether expatriated or on short-term assignments, and a reliance on diverse categories of local employees. Because expatriation is costly, difficult and often limited in its results, MNCs have developed localization strategies for management positions to support their regional development. This contribution addresses such a scenario by comparing Japanese and French MNCs in eight Asian countries, based on 53 interviews across subsidiaries of 17 MNCs. We find that Japanese MNCs have not localized management positions as much as French MNCs, but they have grown more willing to do so. To compensate for the lack of local capabilities without sending more expatriates, both French and Japanese MNCs frequently send experts on short-term assignments. Finally, though human resource practices vary widely across countries, even for a given MNC, some harmonizing principles have been introduced to regional HRM strategies recently.     

Manufacturing growth accelerations in developing countries

This paper investigates the factors driving manufacturing growth accelerations in a sample of 134 developing countries over the period 1970 to 2014. We first identify growth acceleration episodes of manufacturing value added (MVA) by their year of initiation and according to a country’s income classification. We then estimate a probit model to explain what factors predict these MVA growth accelerations. Our results show that human capital and institutions represent contextual factors that favor the growth of manufacturing, together with macroeconomic policies related to investment, and openness to foreign trade and capital. We also find that most of these factors not only foster episodic accelerations of industry, but they contribute as well to a sustained process of industrialization that characterized the process of economic growth of a few successful countries over the period 1970 to 2014.     

The effects of social heterogeneity on travel patterns: A replication study

This paper examines differences between the U.S. and Australian urban landscape in terms of the relationship between urban structure and the effectiveness of public transportation. A replication study is undertaken that tests the validated hypothesis from a U.S. study that urban travel corridor social heterogeneity reduces patronage of public transportation because of resident concerns with social composition of passengers and effects on the travel privacy dimension. A causal model is identified for the city of Sydney that specifies enogenous and endogenous variables, as per the U.S. study, which affect bus and rail use. Results do not lead to the acceptance of the hypothesized relationship. The presence of social heterogeneity in Sydney travel corridors does not deter residents within the study corridors from using the bus or train for the journey to work, nor do they appear to affect longer term decisions on car ownership. Bus patronage was shown to be dependent on social heterogeneity factors while rail use was associated with car owning households. These results highlight differences in urban spatial structure and travel patterns between Sydney and cities in the U.S. study, and suggest differential effects of changes in urban spatial structure and policy responses.     

The market efficiency hypothesis: the case of coffee and cocoa futures

This study tests the market efficiency hypothesis for coffee and cocoa futures using daily data for contracts with a maturity of 2 and 6 months. The hypothesis is tested sequentially. The first condition is that future spot and futures prices be cointegraled. If this condition is maintained, market efficiency requires the cointegrating vector to support a (0, 1) restriction that can be likened to an unbiasedness condition. Finally, market efficiency imposes zero restrictions on the parameters of the variables expressed in first differences in the specification of the error-correction representation of the relationship between future spot and futures prices. Brenner and Kroner [Brenner, R., Kroner, K., 1995. Arbitrage, cointegration, and testing the unbiasedness hypothesis in financial markets. Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis 30, pp. 23–42] argue that the cointegration condition is rarely met in practice. They attribute this outcome to potentially non-stationary net cost-of-carry which would make the parameters of the cointegration relation unstable. It is for this reason that Hansen's tests [Hansen, B.E., 1992. Tests of parameter instability in regressions with I(1) processes. Journal of Business and Economic Statistics 10] about the stability of the parameters in cointegration regressions were used to supplement more traditional cointegration tests, Johansen and Juselius' cointegration tests [Johansen, S., Juselius, K., 1992. Testing structural hypotheses in a multivariate cointegration analysis of the PPP and the UIP for UK, Journal of Econometrics 53] could not reject cointegration for all four contracts while Hansen's L_C test favored cointegration only for the cocoa contracts. Nested and non-nested testing procedures were used to test the (0, 1) restriction on the cointegration vector. Unbiasedness was found to be robust across testing procedures. However, further testing about the specification of the error-correction representation revealed the existence of important short run deviations from unbiasedness, Even though these results hold strictly for a rather limited number of contracts and commodities, they are encouraging for futures markets advocates in developing countries.     

A counterfactual experiment about the eradication of cattle diseases on beef trade

In response to disease outbreak alerts in exporting countries, importing countries usually impose trade bans that vary in terms of product coverage and in terms of duration. We rely on a unique balanced panel dataset that covers four-digit disaggregated beef products over the 1996–2013 period, to estimate the effect of a hypothetical removal of animal diseases outbreaks on trade flows. More specifically, we investigate how bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) and the foot and mouth diseases (FMDs) affect beef trade flows. We use a sectoral structural gravity approach to measure direct, conditional, and full effects, allowing inward and outward multilateral resistance indices, expenditures, and factory-gate prices to adjust to the eradication of animal diseases. The indirect channels through which BSE and FMD impact trade are important. Our counterfactual experiment suggests that Canada would secure substantial gains from BSE and FMD eradication.     

Les subventions des taux d'intérêt et le prix de la terre agricole au Québec

Cet article analyse les variables influençant le prix de la terre agricole au Québec et analyse, plus spécifiquement, l'impact des taux d'intérêt sur emprunt puisque ce dernier est subventionné au Québec. On propose un modèle tenant compte de l'activité agricole et de l'activité non agricole. Un impact positif des recettes agricoles sur le prix de la terre est principalement noté dans les régions près des centres urbains où l'agriculture est concentrée, soit en périphérie de Montréal et dans la région de Québec. Les sources de revenus non agricoles ont un impact significatif sur le prix des terres settlement dans la région la plus urbaine, soit prés de Montréal. Selon les coefficients de flexibilité calculés et les taux d'intérêt en vigueur au cours de la période étudiée, l'abolition des subventions du taux d'intérêt pourrait initier une chute de l'ordre de 15% a court terme et de 7% a long terme du prix de la terre dans les régions de Québec et de Montreal.