Inter-basin water transfers under uncertainty: Storage capacity and optimal guaranteed deliveries

This paper deals with water transfers between jurisdictions not claiming riparian rights to the same water source, and taking place through straightforward sales. Taking into account the uncertain nature of water surpluses, we investigate, within a partial equilibrium framework, the implications of a third party's provision of storing facilities upon the potential supplier's decision whether, and to what extent, it is worthwhile to guarantee a constant amount of water exports. The analysis suggests that there exists a minimum storage capacity below which the potential supplier will never find it profitable to divert a constant amount of water outside his boundaries; the greater the uncertainty about future surpluses and/or internal costs due to even occasional water shortages resulting from the water export commitment, the higher the required minimum storage capacity will be. Above this minimum, an increase in the capacity would be better for the surplus agent, but in a situation in which water surplus is expected to decrease over time, increases in storage capacity would make him willing to guarantee a smaller amount of water deliveries.This work has been carried out under the auspices of the European Science Foundation's research program Sharing fresh water resources in the Mediterranean region: An economic perspective. Previous versions have been presented at ESF workshops held at the Universities of Haifa, Padova and Crete. Financial support from MURST (funds 40% — 1992) is gratefully acknowledged. We wish to thank Nunzio Cappuccio, Haluk Akdogan, Karl Mäler, Mordechai Shechter, Naomi Zeitouni, and two anonimous referees for helpful comments. The usual disclaimer applies.     

Concentration and public policies in the broadcasting industry: the future of television

New technologies are deeply transforming the broadcasting industry. What we have seen so far is only the beginning of a long story. Inevitably, industry regulations must adapt, which means that a wide-ranging rethink of current practices is required. In order to assess the likely evolution of the industry, this article decomposes it into a number of components, from conception of programmes to their broadcasting, including distribution, storage and licensing. Contrary to popular expectations, the analysis suggests that the current high degree of concentration will, if anything, increase. The policy implication is that regulation, so far driven by now obsolete technological constraints, should increasingly emphasize promoting competition.     

Unemployment duration and the interactions between unemployment insurance and social assistance

Existing studies suggest that reforms that reduce the generosity of the unemployment benefits should lower unemployment. Despite the large number of such reforms implemented in Europe in the past decades, evidence from various data sources shows very little correlation with the evolution of unemployment. This paper suggests that the scant success of these labour market reforms can be explained by the interactions between unemployment insurance and other social assistance programmes. Evidence from the European Community Household Panel shows that recipients of unemployment insurance who are also eligible for other welfare schemes are indeed less sensitive to changes in the level and the duration of their benefits.     

How useful are signals? A micro-structure analysis

We analyze how the market processes a signaling event by studying a sample of self-tender offers, events often viewed as signals of firm value. By examining changes in the degree of informed trading, we find asymmetric information costs fall at announcement, remain low throughout the event, and increase at offer expiration. By one month following expiration, informed trading returns to a level not significantly different from that prior to the offer. Higher risk firms have significantly larger declines in information asymmetry during the offer. Increases in information asymmetry persist one month following expiration for firms with lower pre-offer informed trading. (JEL G14, G32)     

Dynamic Tax Evasion with Habit Formation in Consumption*

We model the optimal intertemporal decision of an agent who chooses tax evasion and consumption, over an infinite lifetime horizon, where consumption is driven by habits. We find the following: (i) tax evaders reduce consumption in the early stages of habit accumulation and increase it over time; (ii) habit formation has a dampening effect on tax evasion; (iii) neglecting tax evasion can lead to habit overestimation; (iv) the effect of the tax rate on tax evasion is ambiguous; (v) heavy fines are more efficient than frequent controls in reducing tax evasion.     

Which projects are selected for an innovation subsidy? The Portuguese case

Portuguese Economic Journal - Several empirical studies have analyzed which firm characteristics influence government evaluators in the decision to select specific firms to participate in Research...     

GROWTH AND CYCLES, IN THE MODE OF MARX AND SCHUMPETER

I propose a theory of endogenous growth and cycles under competitive conditions. Firms choose how many workers to hire, how much to invest, and which technologies to use. New capacity, embodying labor-saving technologies, is costlier than old one but allows for a lower wage bill. The interaction between labor-saving innovations and changes in the relative price of labor is the source of growth cycles.     

How capital markets assess the credibility and accuracy of CSR reporting: Exploring the effects of assurance quality and CSR restatement issuance

This research examines how the credibility and accuracy of corporate social responsibility (CSR) disclosures enhance market confidence by exploring their effect on the cost of capital. How do capital markets react to higher-quality assurance of CSR reporting? Can the hypothetical reduction in the cost of capital that assurance quality produces be explained by restatements of previous information given in these CSR reports? We explore the relationship between assurance quality, as a proxy for credibility and market confidence, and the mediating effect of CSR restatements as indicators of accuracy. We propose regression models with a sample of CSR reports issued by European companies. Building upon the signalling and legitimacy theories, the results support the positive effect of higher assurance quality statements on market confidence by confirming a decrease in the cost of capital; assurance quality gives an indication of credibility to the capital market and restatements related to methodological updates signal accuracy. The reduction in the cost of capital brought on by higher assurance quality appears to be determined by the issuance of CSR restatements, which create legitimacy for both client companies and assurance providers. CSR reporting and assurance have reached a greater level of maturity as demonstrated by the evolution of these practices and financial market perceptions.     

The future of pensions in Europe

Unfunded state pension schemes are projected to become financially unsustainable. This is usually attributed to demographic trends. Yet trends in unemployment and in female labour force participation are quantitatively as important. Improvements in either or both might be sufficient to rescue existing state schemes, especially if combined with an end to the practice of allowing, even after retirement, the value of a pension to rise with national earnings rather than prices.
Attempts at piecemeal reform are important because nothing in economic theory suggests a switch to the alternative, fully funded pensions is desirable. Not only would such a transition be costly, and therefore politically difficult; it also neglects the fact that it makes sense to diversify the retirement portfolio, holding claims both on labour productivity and on capital assets. One can even view pensions as part of a more sophisticated system of intergenerational transfers through which workers finance their earlier education and subsequent retirement.     

It is not a flat world after all: Tax repatriation costs and cash value

US corporations have accumulated record‐high amounts of cash, and most of it is trapped in foreign accounts. This study tests the hypothesis that the marginal value of cash decreases in the presence of tax repatriation costs, as these costs are a strong indication that part of the cash is trapped abroad. Cash abroad is not readily available to the company because it is subject to an additional layer of tax before it can be used or distributed. Moreover, uncertainty surrounds the potential use of foreign cash, and research documents that firms holding high amounts of cash abroad are likely to invest in negative net present value activities. Finally, possible changes in tax regulation are an additional source of uncertainty. Consequently, foreign cash should be worth less than domestic cash. Using a large sample of US firms drawn from COMPUSTAT during the 1991–2012 period, the analysis suggests that shareholders value an extra dollar of cash at $1.086. However, this result changes dramatically when the change in cash is interacted with the tax cost of repatriating the earnings. That is, the marginal value of cash decreases significantly in the presence of tax repatriation costs, and shareholders discount cash when it is likely to be held abroad. This study contributes to the literature on cash holding by investigating whether tax repatriation costs affect the value of corporate cash. Moreover, the findings show that there are important economic consequences linked to the phenomenon of cash accumulation in foreign countries and therefore provide regulators with a sound foundation on which to take additional actions to require more disclosure of and transparency in the actual location of firms’ cash holdings.