Rezensionen

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

Market liquidity as dynamic factors

We use recent results on the Generalized Dynamic Factor Model (GDFM) with block structure to provide a data-driven definition of unobservable market liquidity and to assess the complementarity of two observed liquidity measures: daily close relative spreads and daily traded volumes for a sample of 426 S&P500 constituents recorded over the years 2004-2006. The advantage of defining market liquidity as a dynamic factor is that, contrary to other definitions, it tackles time dependence and commonness at the same time, without making any restrictive assumptions. Both relative spread and volume in the dataset under study appear to be driven by the same one-dimensional common shocks, which therefore naturally qualify as the unobservable market liquidity shocks.     

The welfare state after the great recession

The economic crisis has given rise to significant challenges to the welfare state. Given that welfare expenses account for a large proportion of all state spending in the member countries of the European Union, reducing government spending means cutting welfare measures. Yet social protection, in particular unemployment insurance benefits and minimum income support, has significantly softened the impact of the crisis for millions of individuals. The global recession calls into question the financial viability of current programmes, and the crisis is being used by some as an opportunity to roll back the welfare state permanently. The present Forum discusses challenges to and opportunities for the welfare state after the crisis.     

Transition as a process of large-scale institutional change

After several years of transition experience the theory is very poorly developed except in regard to macroeconomtc stabilization. Another key dimension of transition is institutional change to provide the organizational infrastructure for a market economy. Such issues are analysed here through a series of models focusing on: uncertainty of outcomes, complementarities and interactions between reforms, and political constraints. The choice between “big bang” and more gradualist strategies is studied under various conditions and the paper also examines specific incentive and allocative aspects of the transition from socialism to capitalism.