Defining viable recovery paths toward sustainable fisheries

This paper develops a formal analysis of the recovery process for a fishery, from crisis situations to desired levels of sustainable exploitation, using the theoretical framework of viable control. We define sustainability as a combination of biological, economic and social constraints which need to be met for a viable fishery to exist. Biological constraints are based on the definition of a minimum resource stock to be preserved. Economic constraints relate to the existence of a guaranteed profit per vessel. Social constraints refer to the maintenance of a minimum size of the fleet, and to the maximum speed at which fleet adjustment can take place. Using fleet size adjustment and fishing effort per vessel as control variables, we first identify the states of this bioeconomic system for which sustainable exploitation is possible, i.e. for which all constraints can be dynamically met. Such favorable states are called viable states. We then examine possible transition phases, from non-viable to viable states. We characterize recovery paths with respect to the time of crisis of the trajectory, which is the number of periods during which the constraints are not respected. The approach is applied to the single stock of the bay of Biscay Nephrops fishery. The transition path identified through the viability approach is compared to the historical recovery process, and to both open-access and optimal harvesting scenarios.     

Rawlsian equity and generalised utilitarianism with an infinite population

Summary This note provides axiomatizations of the discounting utilitarian rule and the Rawlsian infimum rule for an infinite setting. Contrary to the finite case, an objective function cannot at the same time satisfy anonymity and the strong Pareto principle. The Rawlsian rule is based on anonymity, and the discounting rule on the strong Pareto axiom. Furthermore, the infimum rule is compatible with an infinite version of ordinal level comparability, and the discounting rule with cardinal unit comparability.This text presents research results of the Belgian Programme of Interuniversity Poles of attraction initiated under the Science Policy Programmes of the Prime Minister's Office, Belgium. The scientific responsibility is assumed by its authors.I would like to thank two referees for their most helpful comments. I am grateful to Bart Capéau, Erik Schokkaert, John Sweeney, Dirk Van de gaer, and Luc Van Liedekerke for their remarks.     

THE EUROPEAN PERSPECTIVE ON THE COMPOSITION AND VARIABILITY OF THE ECU

In 1979 the Ecu was established as a currency basket including the currencies of the nine EC-member countries at that time. Its composition was modified in 1984 and again in 1989 by increasing the number of currencies in the basket to 10 and 12 respectively. The results of our analysis show that the Ecu has become consistently less variable with each change in its composition, when expressed in terms of the Greek drachma, Italian lira, Portuguese escudo, Spanish peseta, and to a lesser extent the British pound. However, the Ecu has become consistently less stable with respect to the German mark and the Dutch guilder. The results were mixed for the Belgian/Luxembourg franc, French franc, Irish punt and Danish krone.     

Bank governance,regulation and risk taking

This paper conducts the first empirical assessment of theories concerning risk taking by banks, their ownership structures, and national bank regulations. We focus on conflicts between bank managers and owners over risk, and we show that bank risk taking varies positively with the comparative power of shareholders within the corporate governance structure of each bank. Moreover, we show that the relation between bank risk and capital regulations, deposit insurance policies, and restrictions on bank activities depends critically on each bank's ownership structure, such that the actual sign of the marginal effect of regulation on risk varies with ownership concentration. These findings show that the same regulation has different effects on bank risk taking depending on the bank's corporate governance structure.     

Beyond virtues and vices: Antonio Genovesi's and Adam Smith's “science of relationships”

ABSTRACT

Some recent literature has rediscovered the Italian tradition of “civil economy”. This literature has underlined how the discourse about virtues and vices was fundamental in order to establish how, in a political and economic context, a harmonious order could be established. On the basis of this main focus on virtues and vices, it was stated that Genovesi's thought is essentially different from Smith's one. In this article, I argue that the direct focus on questions of virtues and vices does not help capture the novelty introduced by these authors and the relational value of their agency theory.     

Extreme Value Analysis of Mortality at the Oldest Ages: A Case Study Based on Individual Ages at Death

In this article, the force of mortality at the oldest ages is studied using the statistical tools from extreme value theory. A unique data basis recording all individual ages at death above 95 for extinct cohorts born in Belgium between 1886 and 1904 is used to illustrate the relevance of the proposed approach. No leveling off in the force of mortality at the oldest ages is found, and the analysis supports the existence of an upper limit to human lifetime for these cohorts. Therefore, assuming that the force of mortality becomes ultimately constant, that is, that the remaining lifetime tends to the Negative Exponential distribution as the attained age grows is a conservative strategy for managing life annuities.     

A longitudinal study on the relationship between financial bootstrapping and new venture growth

While bootstrap finance is widely used in entrepreneurial ventures, both scholars and practitioners have presented conflicting views on the relation between financial bootstrapping and venture growth. This article empirically investigates the association between bootstrap strategies used at startup and subsequent venture growth. For this purpose, we use a longitudinal database comprising data from both questionnaires and financial accounts of 214 new ventures. Findings demonstrate that the association between financial bootstrapping and venture growth is either nonexistent or positive. More specifically, new ventures that use more owner funds, employ more interim personnel, encourage customers to pay more quickly, and apply for more subsidy programs exhibit higher growth over time. We discuss the managerial and policy implications of these results and suggest avenues for future research.