Economic Freedom and Unemployment around the World

Using data from 87 countries and the years 1980-2003, this paper empirically analyzes whether and to what extent economic freedom affects unemployment. According to the regression results, economic freedom is likely to substantially reduce unemployment, especially among women and young people. A small government sector and a legal system characterized by an independent judiciary, impartial courts, and an effective protection of property rights most clearly seem to have beneficial effects. In addition, there are indications that freedom to trade across national boundaries and a light regulatory burden may also lower unemployment, though apparently in the long term only.     

FOCUS: Business Ethics in Europe Current Developments in German Business Ethics

Germany is at the leading edge of European reflection on the nature and requirements of ethical business. Two scholars in the field provide a survey of the main lines of discussion in the current German business ethics scene, and discuss three important books which are helping set the scene for further developments. Prof. Dr. Horst Steinmann holds the Chair for Business Administration and Management at the University of Erlangen-Nürnberg, Lange Gasse 20, D-90403 Nürnberg, and Dipl.-Hdl. Brigitte Kustermann is research assistant to the same chair.     

Zur neuberechnung der bereinigten zentralbankgeldmenge

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

Auβenhandelstheoretische entscheidungskriterien für die arbeitsteilung zwischen sozialistischen volkswirtschaften

Summary Decision Criteria for the Division of Labour Between Socialist Economies, Based on the Foreign Trade Theory.— A survey of decision criteria of foreign trade planning between socialist countries is given. Comparisons of national prices in different socialist countries run into the difficulty that the allocative, distributive and promoting functions of prices differ between countries. Criteria of export rentability have been widely used in different forms allowing partial optimization at the best. Above all, there can be a contradiction between the use of such criteria on the national level and the interest of the subsystems. There is now a strong tendency to define the national benefits from trade including also the effects of investment outlays on labour productivity. Also programming models are formulated. The discussion of the dual of such models leads to an interesting innovation: A set of equilibrium exchange rates is found as an optimal shadow price in the dual. By fixing these exchange rates the central planning agency can influence the export and import activities of the subsystems.

---

Résumé Critères, basés sur la théorie du commerce extérieur, pour décider de la division du travail entre économies socialistes.— On donne, dans cet article, un aper?u des critères de décision pour la planification du commerce extérieur entre pays socialistes. La comparaison des prix nationaux dans les différents pays socialistes se heurte à la difficulté que les fonctions allocatives, distributives et encourageantes des prix diffèrent d’un pays à l’autre. On s’est beaucoup servi, et sous plusieures formes, de critères de rentabilité de l’exportation, qui, tout au plus, permettent une optimalisation partielle. Surtout, il peut y avoir opposition entre l’emploi, au niveau national, de ces critères et les intérêts des unités subordonnées. Il y a maintenant une forte tendance à définir les bénéfices nationaux du commerce, y compris les effets qu’ont les dépenses d’investissement sur la productivité du travail. De plus, on formule des modèles de programmation. La discussion du dual de ces modèles mène vers une innovation interessante: Un système de cours des changes en équilibre est défini comme un prix ?shadow? optimal dans le dual. En fixant ces cours des changes, l’autorité centrale de planification est à même d’influencer les activités d’exportation et d’importation des unités subordonnées.

---

Resumen Criterios teóricos de decisión paxa la división de trabajo entre economías socialistas.— El presente artículo facilita un cuadro sobre criterios de decisión para la planificación del comercio entre países socialistas. Comparaciones de los precios nacionales en diferentes países socialistas tropiezan con la dificultad de que las funciones de los precios con respecto a distribución, compensatión y promoción difieren de un país a otro. Se han utilizado, en varias formas, criterios de rentabilidad de exportación, pero éstos han permitido, en el mejor de los casos, una optimización parcial. Ante todo puede surgir una contradicción entre el uso de tales criterios a nivel national y los intereses de secciones subalternas. Actualmente existe una fuerte tendencia de determinar los beneficios nacionales del comercio exterior incluyendo el impacto de los gastos de inversión sobre la productividad del trabajo. Además se formulan modelos de programación. La discusión del caracter dualista de tales modelos ha llevado a una inovación interesante: la determinación de un sistema de tipos de cambio en equilibrio como precio óptimo de sombra. El órgano central de planificación puede, mediante la fijación de estos tipos de cambio, influenciar las actividades de exportación e importación de las secciones subalternas.

---

Riassunto Criteri di decisione teorici di commercio estero per la divisione del lavoro tra economie socialiste.— Nel presente studio viene data una visione d’insieme su criteri di decisione della pianificazione del commercio estero tra Paesi socialisti. Confronti dei prezzi nazionali nei diversi Paesi socialisti s’imbattono nella difficoltà che funzioni di distribuzione, di equilibrio e di promozione dei prezzi si differenziano tra i singoli Paesi. Criteri della redditività delle esportazioni furono largamente impiegati in diverse forme che nel migliore dei casi resero possibile una parziale ottimizzazione. Soprattutto può presentarsi un contrasto tra l’impiego di siffatti criteri su livello nazionale e gli interessi delle unità subordinate. Esiste ora una forte tendenza a determinare i vantaggi del commercio estero nazionale inclusi gli effetti di spese di investimenti sulla produttività del lavoro. Inoltre sono formulati modelli di programmazione. La discussione del duale di tali modelli conduce ad un’interessante novità: un sistema di corsi di cambio in equilibrio viene determinato come ottimale prezzo ombra del duale. Mediante la fissazione di questi corsi di cambio, l’autorità centrale di pianificazione può influenzare le attività di importazione e di esportazione delle unità subordinate.

     

On non-ergodic asset prices

We investigate the asset prices dynamics and the long-run market shares of two competing financial mediators who are selected by consumers. We demonstrate that the social interaction among consumers constitutes an endogenous path-depending source of risk in a financial market. Depending on consumers’ evaluation of the mediator’s investment, asset prices may behave in a non-ergodic manner: the price process converges in distribution but the limiting distribution is not necessarily uniquely determined, its multiplicity being characterized by the multiplicity of possible long-run market shares. The convergence of the process is sensitive to initial conditions and depends on the history of noise-trader transactions. Long-run portfolio holdings may be in-efficient since investors holding mean-variance efficient portfolios may not be identified.